Full text of "Big K Magazine Issue 07"

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WINAWKO 

CmiTROLUR! 


Australia $1.70. 


• • 







^OKOTONIW 

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Kokotbni WiM* i an arcade advefittife 
program whosfe undisgjuise0 indention |s to 
steartfie title df "best aj-Gade adventure 
program bar nbn" frotf| Jet Set willv. i--*" 
Kokotbni Wilf r|>tfSt recfver all df theblfces 
of thelegerrdafv Dragdn Amul»f\A/hicr| 
has b^ scatti^red thrbupMfr^e) for hjs 
master the gr^at magjftah Ulrif h’. j ^ 
throughout trfe ^ue^t wilf comfes up j 
again^ many dangers from hufe^'" f 
PrehisfcoriG Oiriosaurs tf) hostileialien | 
RobQtfrdut thb reward forfec(|yering ail 
of tdelDieces Warrants the risk. |rhe 48K 
" program featiires a number of jnajpr I 
advances overJet Set \^\\\y. Thelgamesl 
designer EtlT^ stresses that each of thp 
games 60 plus Screens gettings Is genul|ielv 
high resolution as opposed to f^uedo hiigh- 
res and doesn't requirefa title to explali| 
what ^iou'relo6king at. the Sprite | 
characters arelof cartodn quality and 
exhibit their oWn uniqiJe personalities, t' 
impressive claims. Jet ^t Willy fans will no 
doubtfeel both sceptidal and intrigued 
Now they can find out ^or theniselves! 

3 I I 

Available Septemb^ 15th for - 
spectrum 48K.. ; ... .j. @ £5.95 (Cass) 
Commodore64.@£6.95(Cass) 

I { . |..@ £8.95 (Disci 


'CQllr^avdrs is a top Hdllywood ‘ tunlman- 
xV(fh(l) uses the extraordinary skills ^he pis- 
A plays befcyethe cam^a wh^rfh loorf- 
ligiytlng a<i a mo(|ern BjDjjnt]/ Hut iter|who 

apprehends andlbrin® in Bail Be n^i - 

jtrtnpers. Cplt is #>1V assisted byj rf§ \i\lpu\6- 


be manager Hdwie, his beautfful|stur|t girl 
protege, Jpdy, ar|d Te rti tnd lady fror fi the 
Bailjeond (|ompahy,.who hitle Cc ijwfwr”" 
he^^not b|fore^^camera|. . 

Thdeast of characters is; 

CoitlsaversI . 1 ... . lEE majors " 

JOdy BankSi .I. . HEATHER T> dM/5|s 

Howie Munson. .; f .. DOUChARR 
Terri Miche^ls ... 1 .. . ^/lARKf POST 


PRESENT 
LEE MAJORS 
in 


Available Octqbefioth 


r 41 I ® 


Every single ELITE' 
product carries the 
unique ELITE' Holo graphic 
Sticker Make sure your 
copy does, its your 
guarantee of quality. 


48K Spectrum 
and Commodore 64 


Mail Order: Just send a cheque or/ 
P.O. payable to ELITE'or quote vefi! 
credit card no. 


Telephone (0922) 611215. Telex 335622 SPETEL C Attent^miM^ 






















Editor: TONY TYLER. Assistant Editor: RICHARD BURTON. Art Editor: IAN STEAD. Features: NICKY XIKLUNA. Contributors: ANDY 
GREEN; KIM ALDIS (Technical); STEVE KEATON; RICHARD COOK; RICHARD TAYLOR; BERNARD TURNER; DAVE RIMMER; JOHN 
CONQUEST; NIGEL FARRIER; PAUL WALTON; TONY BENYON; TREVOR SPALL. Publisher: BARRY LEVERETT. Publishing Director: 
JOHN PURDIE. Group Advertising Controller: LUIS BARTLETT. Advertisement Manager: ROBIN JOHNSON (01-261 5119). 


It seems a little ironic that the oldest form of computer game — the 
"Adventure" — is today both the fastest-growing and the form that 
seemingly holds the greatest untapped potential. 

Even in the six months since BIG K last covered this subject in any depth 
(May issue), the numbers and types of computer adventures have taken off 
in a kind of interactive mini-boom. New varieties and sub-varieties have 
appeared. No longer is the humble text-only job alone in the world. We 
have graphic adventures, some aiming for a "movie" feel, others for a 
"comic" look; combined arcade-adventures; quasi-adventures; multi¬ 
player adventures for micros and mainframes- and mixtures of all of the 
above. ^ 

It's also true that the basic adventure format — interaction with the 
software via keyboard input — is now recognised as the bedrock for a 
whole future artform. And where the word "artform" leads, can "respecta¬ 
bility" be far behind? Will some of the terminal computerphobes who 
guard the nation's culture soon be forced to chuck in the sponge and admit 
that perhaps computers are not, after all, Satan-inspired? Watch this 
space ... 


IF ITS AN ARTFORM IT MUST BE O.K. 





HEXAGON for ZX81.34 

LANDER 64 for CBM 64.60 

.22 ALLEY for SPECTRUM.84 

DOGSforORIC.88 

AIRBORNEATTACKforSPECTRUM.100 


AIRBORNEATTACKforSPECTRUM.100 



ATARI PLAYER MISSILES.66 

ADVENTURER'S DATABASE for SPECTRUM 48K 74 



Dorkslayer!.40 

AWolf in Dungeon Master's Clothing.42 

MUD,GloriousMUD.46 

Adventure Screeds.48 

They Wrote One.52 

Classic Games of Our Time.54 

What's Newfrom Hobbit House?.56 

ForThis Manx Marks the Spot.59 


Lame Games.82 


On-Line News.3 

Arcade Alley.72 

Taylor-Made Graphics.92 

Charts.95 

Lette rbase. . 108 


Win Wico Joysticks.69 



Travel in time 
back to World 
War1(p.100),to 
the near future 
withMSX(p.76) 
orto a mythical 
past as seen 
through the eyes 
ofDorkslayers 
everywhere (p.40), 


Published approximately on the 20th of each month by IPC Magazines Ltd., King’s Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SEl 9LS, telephone 01-261 5000. Monotone and colour origination by 
G.M. Litho Ltd., Princes Risborough, Bucks. Printed in England by Chase Web Offset, Cornwall. Sole Agents: Australia and New Zealand, Gordon & Gotch (A/sia) Ltd.; South Africa, Central News 
Agency Ltd. BIG K is sold subject to the following conditions, namely that it shall not, without the written consent of the Publishers first given, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of 
trade at more than the recommended selling price shown on the cover, and that it shall not be lent, resold or hired out or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or any unauthorised cover by way of 
trade or affixed to as part of any publication or advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever, f IPC MAGAZINES 1984. 











































Without warning the alien ships 
invade your galaxy. Can your 
SENTINEL space stations delay 
the enemy long enough for you to 
prepare the planetary defences? 


Your FIRE FLASH guided missiles 
must destroy the incoming 
Interplanetary Ballistic Missiles fired 
from the alien ships standing off 
in deep space. Only your 
command skill can beat off the 
attack so that you can ... 








... launch PROTEUS, your attack 
craft, to clear your galaxy of the 
enemy. Armed with guided 
missiles you can attack in safety 

or can you??? 


You finally reach the alien 
home planet where you must 
destroy their base to win 

. the FINAL BATTLE! 


m 


Space Odyssey is four complete arcade-style adventure games suitable 
for 16K and 48K Spectrums. Written in machine code to give high 
performance graphics, each game is a complete space battle as 
well as being part of the greatest space adventure ever played. 

You choose the scene and make the command decisions. 

But be warned! The Allens fight backi 

Space Odyssey comes as a 4 cassette pack 
complete with all playing instructions 
and is available only from 


To: Abacus Programs, FREEPOST, Swansea SA5 5ZZ 


Please send me 


Space Odyssey on 4 cassettes (as illustrated). 




716 Liangyfeiach Road, Traboath, 
Swansea SA5 9EL. 

Tai; 0792 799193. 


enclose £14.95 each (including postage and packing). 

I enclose cheque/postal order for £-- 

• Please debit my Access card no: i—i— ■ —i— ^ —i— l_ 


Signature; 


Name: Mr/Mrs/Ms . 
Address:_ 


Postcode; 


PLEASE ALLOW UP TO 7 DAYS FOB DELIVERY 

















































The Great Space Race is 
that much-speculated 
upon entity — the follow¬ 
up to Legend's highly in¬ 
novative, highly success¬ 
ful 'computer movie' 
(their description) Valhal¬ 
la. 

Out go any traces of 
Norse gods, myths, 
legends and graphic 
adventure elements and 
in comes the hi-tech 
world of the future in 
what looks to be a very 
sophistaicated arcade 
game with strategy over¬ 
tones and single key¬ 
press commands. As 
usual Legend are saying 
little, grinning a lot and 


ON-LINE 



LEGEND ELBOWS GODS, 
JOINS SPACE RACE 


fuelling what they call the 
'wind up' to the launch In 
late September/early 
October (even that's not 
definite). 

As of writing. Chairman 
John Peel has gone as far 
as describing The Great 
Space Race as ". . a spec¬ 
tacular futuristic romp, 
with the emphasis on fun 
and entertainment. We 
saw the opportunity for a 
completely new kind of 
computer entertainment; 
one that goes beyond 
arcade and adventure 
games but retains the 
best elements of both." 

TGSR (as it's called 
around Legend's Ching- 
ford command post) has 
two main phases, both 
with time limits. In the 
first, pre-race section, the 
player has to wheel and 
deal to get the best 
spaceships, weapons and 
personnel for his team. 
The race itself is a fast- 
paced, anything goes 
event pitting the player 
against time, natural 
obstacles and other com¬ 
petitors. 

Movisoft 2, a develop¬ 
ment of the original Movi¬ 
soft used in Valhalla, Is 
the operating system for 


TGSR. Legend promise, 
"..True solid 3D 
graphics, which, under 
the control of a compute¬ 
rised 'camber director' 
create the most realistic 
and spectacular pictures 
ever." Full facial anima¬ 
tion is claimed to be 
another first for TGSR 
enabling players to see 
the characters on-screen 
In detailed close-up. 

Legend Managing ^ 
Director Jan Peel told BIG \ 
Kthat TGSRhad come ab¬ 
out largely In the same 
way as Valhalla. "We 
asked dealers what they 
wanted to see in a new 
computer game," she 
said. "Just as they said 
when we started Valhalla 
they asked for something 
entirely new, entirely 
amazing, original and 
with spectacular 

graphics!" With the 
gauntlet hurled Legend 
set about coming up with 
the goods. According to 
Jan the bill for production 
costs alone came to a 
quarter of a million 
pounds by the time TGSR 
was complete. However, 
with \/a//?a//a already hav¬ 
ing grossed over £2m 
(see BIG K No. 1) the in¬ 


vestment seems worth¬ 
while. 

The Great Space Race 
will be released simul¬ 
taneously for the Com¬ 
modore 64 and Spectrum 
48K. Price has yet to be 
confirmed but is expected 
to be around £14.95. 

Meanwhile, Valhalla 
lives on and is spreading 
its wings on the interna¬ 
tional scene. John told us 
that he is negotiating with 
a "very, very large U.S. 
software company" (as 
opposed to 'very large' or 
just plain 'large') for the 
Stateside release of 
Valhalla. 



NEWT MEIM 
ALIVE 
AND 
KICKING 

BRIGHTON-BASED soft¬ 
ware company Salaman¬ 
der are not going out of 
business. 

Despite reports else¬ 
where in the computer 
press to this effect, last 
month company direc¬ 
tors hit back at what they 
said was "an urge to 
write us off.. . we are 
alive and well and would 
appreciate the decency of 
a phone call before wakes 
are organised." 



MSXTRA! 

MITSUBISHI, MAKERS of 
the wartime Zero fighter, 
have entered the rapidly 
growing MSX market 
with a personal compu¬ 
ter, the ML-FIW. 


Recently seen in top- 
secret test flights over the 
Pacific island of Iwo Jima 
— where it came under in¬ 
tensive American AAA 
fire — the lightweight 
F110 is apparently dis¬ 
tinguished by its extraor¬ 
dinary manoeuvrability, 
great firepower and abil¬ 
ity to carry a massive 
payload. However it 
appears to be relatively 
underpowered at 32 
Horserams (compared to 
the 64 of other fighters in 
the same strategic arena). 

Meanwhile more de¬ 
tails of the Sanyo MPC 
100 MSX machine (see 
photo) have been re¬ 
vealed. It differs from 
other makes in posses¬ 
sing a light pen facility. 





























ON-LINE 


WRtU'POmR 
P£AKS RT RS 


QUICKSILVA have suc¬ 
cessfully concluded an his¬ 
toric deal with The Mighty 
Tharg, alien editor of Bri¬ 
tain's top (and the Galaxy's 
Greatest) science fiction 
comic 2000 AD to produce 
computer games featuring 
his awesome characters. 

The first game, Stron¬ 
tium Dogs and the Death 
Gauntlet Is due out now 
and stars Johnny Alpha, 
mutant bounty hunter of the 
future. Strontium Dog is 
probably 2000 AD's second 
all-time most popular 
series after the top-rated 
Judge Dredd. Other 
2000 AD mega-stars 
include Robo-Hunter, 
The A.B.C. Warriors, 
Rogue Trooper and Ace 
Trucking Company. 

Asked about future plans. 


Quicksilva's Mark Eyies said 
that provided this first time 
went well others would 
follow. 

BIG K was honoured to 
be granted ten seconds of 
the Mighty Tharg's valu¬ 
able time. He would not be 
drawn on the details of the 
deal but confirmed that 
several crates of plastic 
cups (his favourite Earth 
food) were involved. The 
Mighty One also stated that 
Quicksilva's game would 
be, ". . . zarjaz, scrotnig, 
ghafflebette and that only a 
grexnix would miss it." 

Strontium Dog and the 
Death Gaunf/ef will Initially 
be available only on the 
Commodore 64 with the 
Spectrum version follow¬ 
ing soon after. 


led EuroHard. 

The giant GEC company, 
who initially stepped into the 
breach when Dragon looked 
like going down earlier this 
year, will continue to distri¬ 
bute and service the machine 
in the UK. However, yet 
another new company — cal¬ 
led Touchmaster— has been 
set up to coordinate the 
transference of the produc¬ 
tion lines from the Land of 


IT AIN'T what you prog, it's 
the price that you flog it — 
that's what gets results. Or 
at least that's what incresing 
numbers of companies are 
trying to find out. Great 
amounts of games priced at 
£1.99 are being bought to our 
attention, in what's obviously 
going to be the great race to 
fill stockings this Christmas. 

Svengalis of cut-price. 


From our War 


Correspondent 


DATELINE: LIVERPOOL A 
new development in the 
escalating Battle for Britain 
took place as American soft¬ 
ware forces infiltrated yet 
another British software 
house. (See On-Line News 
last month for first reports of 
the Invasion threat.) 

Units from Sierra and 
Broderbund, two crack 
American software houses, 
reached a bloodless agree- 


Mastertronic, have built their 
empire on lower market 
echelons. Their latest offer¬ 
ings are Psycho Shopper and 
Alcatraz Harry. Then there's 
that blatantly booze besotted 
lot — Beau-Jolly (geddit?) 
who've masterminded the 
computer equivalent to the 
party six pack. There's one 
for each of the CBM 64, 48K 
Spectrum, and Vic 20, at 
£14.99, plus the 16K Spec¬ 
trum four-pack at £9.99. 

Another newcomer to 
Cheapo Corner is Atlantis. 
They're sitting on a nest of 
games for all major machines 
and are going into a slow 
hatch of four per month. 
Then there's Scorpio Games- 
world. Not only have Scorpio 
bought out a £1.99 graphic 
adventure for the Spectrum, 
Codebook Caper, but they've 
a whole bunch of games for 
the Texas T199. 


YANKS U\ND 
ON SOFWVARE 
PROJECTS 


SPAIN! LAND of sunshine, 
warm seas, paella, bullfights 
. . . and the Dragon couputer. 

Come again? 

It's true, 6809E fans. The 
all-Welsh Dragon 32/64 
series, once the pride of the 
BritMicro industry — and 
more recently just the latest 
in a series of BritMicro disas¬ 
ters — has finally been res¬ 
cued from oblivion by a 
Spanish-based company cal- 


ClIMl>SKATli: 

COKiVKR 
















ON-LINE 


r w 


merit with Software Projects 
for the release of their 
games. 

Sierra's armoury is known 
to contain some particularly 
big guns in the form of 
licensed games based on top 
comic strips and The 
Wizard of Id' as well as the 
recent deal with Walt Disney 
to produce games featuring 
their characters. Alan Maton, 
C-in-C of Software Projects, 
said that they now had ac¬ 
cess to most of Sierra's in¬ 
ventory and would be con¬ 
verting it for use in British 
machines. First out will be 
B.C.'s Quest for Tires, avail¬ 
able immediately for the 
CBM 64 on disc and cassette 
and soon for Spectrum. 

Broderbund, while not 
sporting quite as many well- 
known products as Sierra, 
has Lode Runner, a particu¬ 
larly popular game in the 
States. SP will be making this 
available in the U.K. on the 
Spectrum and CBM 64. 

Meanwhile SP are mar¬ 
shalling their own forces for 
an assault on as many 
machines as possible with 
their own big gun. Manic 
Miner. 

Your correspondent 
doesn't expect this to be the 
last skirmish in the attempt 
to take over Britain's domes¬ 
tic software industry and 
urges vigilance at all times. 


DRACO! 


Mists and Eisteddfods 
(Spain) to the land of pesetas 
and shark-infested seas 
(Wales). 

Meanwhile, mixed for¬ 
tunes continue to attend the 
Oric/Atmos range. Amid 
rumours of impending li¬ 
quidation of the British end of 
the company, Oric Compu¬ 
ters continue to sell a storm 
in the Land of the Franc and 
the Pissoir (France). This ma¬ 
jor Euro-success story in its 
own right has now been 
added considerable weight 
by the news that a new mar¬ 
ket appears to be opening up 
with the securing of a £3/4 
million deal to sell machines 
to Germany (the Land of 
Wurstchen and Wunderkin- 
der) and Switzerland (Fully 
Debugged Cuckoo Clocks). 


BUT DOES IT SELL DRINKS? 



Is it a cash-point? Can it 
vend you a drink? No, it's 
an Electronic Software Dis¬ 
tribution System (EDOS). 
Edos Cudos will belong to 
John Menzies early next 
year. 

The machine will quickly 
reproduce any of its store 
of 1,000 programs onto 
tape, disk or cartridge, eli¬ 
minating the need for 
shops to hold massive soft¬ 
ware stocks. You simply 
choose by scrolling 
. yii\ 


through Its inventory, and 
all the retailer has to do is 
slip out the data slug and 
slap it Into its relevant pack¬ 
aging. 

Progs come telephone 
linked from the central 
main frame in Edinburgh. 
Of course, there could be 
some of those exciting new 
bugs that have a habit of 
slipping into any new sys¬ 
tem, but theoretically, this 
sounds like the end to the 
big wait for new software. 


COULD 
THIS BE 
THE END 
OF PIRACY 
AS WE 
KNOW IT? 

IN TFIE endless fight of civi¬ 
lisation against the parasitic 
preyings of piratical pre¬ 
dators (that's you, Kevin), the 
Industry have given you 
dongles, G.O.S.FI., Software 
Projects'colour cards . . .and 
now holograms. 

Not (we hasten to add) the 
laser jobs that cost about 20K 
apiece, but 3-D effect stick- 
ons on the lines of those fun¬ 
ny matchbooks you get from 
Japan Air Lines. The sup¬ 
pliers, Elite Systems, claim 
that these small eye-bending 
silver logos are obtainable 
from only one source in the 
world, and therefore that 
counterfeit Elite games can¬ 
not carry them. 



KEYBOARD 
SKILLS No. 6 
SWINGING 
THE CAT 





















































ON-LINE 



IN FROM 
THE EDGE 

HIGH QUALITY software is 
beaming in from The Edge, 
newly formed offshoot of 
Softek International, pur¬ 
veyors of fine games to the 
gentry for some time. 

The Edge is a group of 
freelance programmers 
spread throughout the 
computer-literate world 
who, along with graphic 
artists and musicians are 
devoted to pushing back 
the frontiers of computer 
gaming on the established 
home micros. 

How about a 1,000-plus 
screens of arcade action? 
The Edge delivers that on 
Quo Vadis and Psytraxx, its 
first two releases for the 
CBM 64 and Spectrum. 


DROOLWIRE CORHER 



YES, YES, we know you can't 
afford it — but who knows? 
That game you're working on 
right now might (just might) 
connect in a big way . . . and 
then you'll naturally want to 
go 16-bit and clean up the 
rest of your act. 

Geddit? Oh, well. News is 
that ACT, makers of the love¬ 
ly and much-praised Apricot 
16-bit biz machine, have re- 
vibed the spec, down to what 
looks like an even nicer 


"peanut" version for slightly 
under £1,000. This is the 
Apricot FI, recently pre¬ 
viewed with its larger cousin 
the LCD-based Apricot Port¬ 
able. It appears to contain as 
much as the original 'cot 
(apart from the Microscreen), 
and in addition features a 
PCjr-style infra-red (connec¬ 
tionless) keyboard, all white 
and sleekly styled. 256K 
RAM comes on board as a 
minimum memory. 


The Edge term these 
offerings 'megagames'. 
Take a look at the 'gee whiz' 
data on Quo Vadis: 118 
caverns, 115 passages (the 
longest 14 screens in 
length). 

Starbike is a space 
arcade adventure (that just 
about covers everything!) 
involving skill and strategy 
for the 48K Spectrum. A 
prize awaits those gamers 
who locate a hidden code 
number. 

Fourth and last of the first 
batch of releases is Fire- 
quest, subtitled The Furth¬ 
er Adventures of Ugh it fea¬ 
tures the cavemen from 
Softek's popular release 
Ugh!. 

All four games will be 
appearing under the ban¬ 
ner of The Edge and will re¬ 
tail at £9.95 for CBM 64 edi¬ 
tions (Starbike costs £5.95). 


NO 

STRINGS 

ONCRL 

Puppet fever seems to have 
broken out at CRL. Following 
acquisition of rights to The 
Magic Roundabout and Ter- 
rahawks games the com¬ 
pany has now announced its 
agreement with Gerry Ander- 


BARNEY 
O'BEEB 
AND THE 
LITTLE 
PEOPLE 

ACORN COMPUTERS are to 
set up manufacturing in the 
Republic of Ireland. 

In the first planned year's 
operation 5,000 BBC Model 
'B's will roll off the Dublin 
production line, which was 
due to be set up by the end of 
this month. 


son to produce a game pro¬ 
duced on his classic Thunder- 
birds TV series, first seen in 
the sixties and soon to return 
to TV in a brand new series 
(yayl). 

Terrahawks — Anderson's 
most recent TV work — has 
been written for the 48K 
Spectrum by acclaimed soft¬ 
ware author (and BIG K col¬ 
umnist) Richard Taylor and is 
said to feature "almost per¬ 
fect 3D simulation". No de¬ 
tails are available on Thunder- 
birds as of going to press. 



ATARI SLASH PRICES \ 
AS NEW REGIME BITES 


ATARI HAVE cut virtually all their hardware and soft¬ 
ware prices as the first steps in the fightback to success 
following the takeover two months ago by ex-CBM 
chief Jack tramiel. 

Most startling cut is for the 600XL computer (basical¬ 
ly 16K but expandable to 64K via a RAMpack), which is 
now under £100. The 1050 disc drive and the 1020 
Colour Printer are each cut by £100.00. The VCSjr com¬ 
es down to £69.99 with its carts retailing at £10-13. 

And Atarisoft titles will also be cut — down to the 
£8-10 range. Interestingly, amid conflicting rumours 
from the U.S. about Tramiel's overall strategy in buying 
the Atari empire, reports are now emerging claiming 
that in the near future Atarisoft will dump the CBM 
format entirely. 


Atar 
Atari Pi 
Commo 
and m 

e are the regi 


u 






























HOW TOAAAKEA 
RED DEVIL SEE RED 

with accurate control from Suncom 


Beating the game requires positive 
response and fast accurate control. 

That’s why beating the game requires 
Suncom from Consumer Electronics. 

A range of 3 quality joysticks all with 
arcade-style features plus Joy Sensor, 
the ultimate, with precision, touch- 
sensitive control. 

No stick to move, no resistance to 
movement. 

Together with a range of C.E.L. 
Adaptor leads, they’re compatible to a 
wide range of machines. 

Check them out at your dealer- 
they’re sure fire winners. 

For details of your nearest stockist 
contact-Consumer Electronics Limited, 
Failsworth, Manchester M35 OHS. 

Tel: 061-682 2339. 


Range available from most branches of John Lewis Partnership, 
Spectrum and most good computer shops. 

Slik Stik is available from all branches of Argos and selected 
Woolworth stores. 


S Suncom 

from Consumer Electronics. 


Compatible with 

Atari CX2600 Game System* 

Atari Personal Computer Systems* 
Commodore 64 & Vic 20 Computers* 
and most other Home Computers 
with suitable adaptor. 

lese are the registered Trade Marks of the individual companies 
concerned. 









The Green, 
Ashby de La Zouch, 
Leicestershire LEG 5JU 

















I, 1-2 Players. Running on 
Commodore 64, Sinclair Spectrum 
from your usual software store. 


You are commanding a squadron of four 
ground attack aircraft... 

The mission is seemingly hopeless. 

Fly along the river at zero altitude, twisting and 
turning crazily to stay within its tortuous banks, 
blasting at anything and everything in sight. Especially 
the bridges. 

Three of your jets are held in reserve while you 
are pitched against Battleships, Enemy Aircraft, Land 
Tanks, Balloons, Helicopter Gunships. All intent only on 
your destruction. 

And destroy you they will, if you don't get them 
first. You'll need to keep an eye on your fuel gauge. 
But take comfort, you can take fuel on board from 
one of the special depots. 


If you get hit-and nobody has yet reached the 
end of the river-your next reserve starts at the last 
bridge you blasted on your way through! 

Each target you destroy adds to your points 

score. 

Like all Activision Software, River Raid will hold 
you and keep you coming back for more. 

Chocks away! 

Lose y ourself in the world of 

il^cIiViaoK. 






CURRAH JUSPEECH 







^ t 







ill .1ES^» 



The CURRAH /xSPEECH is ready to talk immediately on 
power-up, has an infinite vocabulary and outputs speech 
and ZX Spectrum sound through your TV speaker. There 
is no software to load with piSPEECH — sophisticated 
Gate Array technology means you can just plug in and 
start constructing words and sentences like this: 

LETSS = "sp|ee)k (nn)(oo) (ee)vir' will say "speak no 
evil"! Further commands control the "voicing" of keys as | 
they are pressed, and an intonation facility allows you to 
add expression to the speech. 

/i-SPEECH is fully compatible with ZX Interface 1 and 
may be used with the CURRAH /u,SLOT Expandable 
Motherboard, allowing easy expansion of your ZX 
system. /xSPEECH and /aSLOT will also be compatible 
with the CURRAH /iiSOURCE unit when it arrives later 
this year, allowing you to write Assembler and FORTH 
statements directly into your BASIC programsi 
Top selling games like ULTIMATE'S Lunar Jetman 
feature /^SPEECH voice output — watch out for other 
titles from Bug-Byte, CDS, Ocean, Quicksilva and PSS. 


/LtSpeech, /xSlot and /^Source are trademarks of Currah Computer Components Ltd. 
ZX, ZX Spectrum and ZX Interface 1 are trademarks of Sinclair Research Ltd. 


/mSPEECH is available fromTIl^MET, W.H. SMITH, 
WOOLWORTHS, GREENS^tTbOOTS, JOHN MENZIES, 
SPECTRUM STORES and good dealers nationwide — 
or use the form to order the CURRAH )u.SPEECH — 
winner of the CTA 'Product of the Year' award 1984. 



ill 

ISI 




10 




To: MicroSpeech Offer, P.O. Box 1, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, IME8 lAJ 

Please Supply. MicroSpeech unit{s) at £29.95 each incl. VAT & P & P 

.MIcroSlot unit(s) at £14.95 each incl. VAT & P & P 

Name (please print) . 

Address (please print) .:. 

. Postcode . 

I enclose a cheque/PO payable to 'MicroSpeech Offer' value £. 

or debit my Access/BarclayCard No. | I 1 I I 1 I I I I I I i I 1 T~1 
Cardholder Signature. 

Credit Card Hotline 091 - 482 4683 Please allow 28 days for delivery. Offer valid UK only 

■■ ■■ ■■ See us at the PCW Show Stand 329 ■■ Hi ■■ 














































MAY THE FORCE 
BE WITH YOU? 

THE AUTHORITATIVE voice 
of Holmes, supersleuth, has 
been given a new lease of life. 
HOLMES — Home Office 
Large Major Enquiry System 
— will be a computer system 
to coordinate and collate all 
the data that pours into 
police incident rooms across 
the land. They added 'Large' 
to lend it less of a 'house¬ 
hold' name — (what won't 
these people do?) 

The Home Offfice are vet¬ 
ting likely candidates for 
contracts (they wouldn't 
name names), hoping to get 
HOLMES on his feet by Jan¬ 
uary 1985. The force are likely 
to house an agglomeration 
of existing compatible main¬ 
frames and micros, for which 
special software will be writ- 


”5 


ten. 

HOLMES will link up clues, 
and match similar cases up 
and down the country. His 
cross referencing abilities will 
improve upon the existing 
thousands of card files 
(understatement of the year, 
surely). For example, if a 
detective makes a search for 
suspect 'Anthony', Holmes 
will also give him a 'Tony' 
and 'Tone'. But if our editor 
was to run off with ail next 
year's competition prizes, 
would it also search for him 
under his better known 
handles of 'The Big Cheese' 
and 'Loud Mouth'? We will 
find out. Let's hope he never 
has to. 

Our natural paranoia led us 
to enquire as to the extent to 
which HOLMES would be 
allowed to go on line in his 
quest to control crime. Will 
he talk to immigration con¬ 
trol, over-ride company 
accounts or share a hotline 
with Margaret Hacker? The 
Home Office were not 
amused. 

"We will be confined to the 
incident room alone," they 
said. As we said. We'll find 
out. Let's hope we never have 
to. NICKY XIKLUNA 


ON-LINE 


NO, NOGGIN THE NOG 
DOESN'T LIVE HERE 


TIR NA NOG, as every reader 
of 2000 AD's sword and sor¬ 
cery series Slaine knows, is 
the ancient Gaelic name for 
the Land of Youth (or Land of 
the Young, depending on 
your historical preference). 

Tir Na Nog is also the name 
of a new graphic adventure 
from Gargoyle Gamesforthe 
48K Spectrum due for re¬ 
lease next month. It features 
the exploits of the great hero, 
Cuchulainn, following his de¬ 
parture from the world of the 
Living, his entry into Tir Na 
Nog and his subsequent 
attempts to locate and re¬ 
unite the fragments of the 
Seal of Calum. 

Gargoyle claim ". . State- 
of-the-art film animation" in 
the game's graphics. The 
main character stands 56 pix¬ 
els tall and a total of 64 
frames are required for the 
complete animation of the fi¬ 
gure. He is situated in a com¬ 
plex landscape which can be 
viewed from four different 
'camera angles', like Quick- 
silva's Ant Attack. 

The game cassette will 


come in a presentation box 
with a cover depicting the 
Celtic God Cernunnos (you 
must remember him), a map, 
instruction book and extracts 
from the History and Peoples 
of Tir Na Nog. Everything 
you need for a jaunt through 
myth and legend. 

RICHARD BURTON 





The Fall Guy is the latest 
TV series to get the made- 
for-computers treatment. 
Newly-named Elite 
Systems Ltd. (formerly 
Richard Wilcox Software) 


have a new game on the 
stocks based on the pop¬ 
ular (it says here) TV 
series showing on ITV. 

For those who may 
have missed the series 


(for shame) it stars Lee 
Majors as Colt Seavers, a 
top Hollywood stuntman 
who moonlights as a 
modern-day bounty 
hunter, bringing back to 
justice people who have 
jumped bail. He is aided 


in his work by typical, 
boneheaded young 
sidekick Howie Munson 
(Doug Barr) and don't-call- 
me-dumb blonde Jody 
Banks (Heather Thomas). 

Elite's game will be an 
arcade adventure featur¬ 
ing the player as Colt 
Seavers in pursuit of a 
couple of Bail Bond 
Jumpers. Needless to say, 
a number of Hollywood- 
type stunts will have to 
be performed by Colt 
before he gets his men in 
this fast action multi¬ 
screen game. 

The Fall Guy will be 
launched jointly for the 
Commodore 64 and 
Spectrum computers 
towards the end of Octo¬ 
ber. Pricing will be £6.95 
for the Spectrum and 
£7.95 for the CBM 64 
(£9.95 for disc edition). 

BIG K will have an 
exclusive review of The 
Fall Guy next month. 





































... Because trade barriers are coming 
down, and before long Warsaw Pact 
punters will be cursing the membrane 
keyboards of their ZX81 's (just like the 
rest of us). NICKY XIKLUNA reports. 


EXCELLENCY. Work contin- 
lies at F3ogdanov Oligarchical 
Sovict-Lcninist Hi-tcch Insti¬ 
tute (BOLSHl). Da! Professor 
Chomski has announced this 
week his stunning new 13K 
machine! Have no need of 
bourgeois individualist minia¬ 
turisation habit. But working 
night and day to make model to 
leave by door. Is making trans¬ 
portation difficult. 

Is also big problem. Excel¬ 
lency, as revised (19(S5) live year 
plan demands that eight million 
babushkas own micro. Is good 
idea to exploit — I mean try out 
— the Western Capitalist tech¬ 
nology? Just until the mighty 
production lines start to roll? 

Your humble sputnik, 

(deleted) 

IF YOU thought our Russian 
letters were a good joke — 
you're wrong. (They're a bad 
joke.) Also they're not far 
from describing whatthe real 
situation vis-a-vis East/West 
computer detente. 

Computer sales to the East 
have been completely pro¬ 
hibited for years. Forget the 
exigiencies of the computer 
revolution — legislation has 
not changed since 1976! Now 


for the first time the embargo 
is cracking . . . 

The USSR does make its 
own non-military computers 
— reportedly (hopefully?) 
inferior to Western counter¬ 
parts. There are very few 
publicly available. In schools, 
only whizz-niks get a look-in, 
at special schools for maths 
virtuosos. So the USSR is 
itching to improve its stock of 
western computers — good 
news for the prolific industry 
here, eh? But things ain'tthat 
simple. 

Sitting on trade restric¬ 
tions is COCOM — the co¬ 
ordinating committee con¬ 
trolling high tech trade with 
the East. The nations therein 
have been in complete dead¬ 
lock for the last two years — 
the main reason being . . . 
America (cue "Hail to the 
Chief"). 


"Exporting computer tech¬ 
nology could constitute a 
major threat to US National 
Security", said William 
Archey, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Commerce for 
Trade and export control, 
recently. "Sophisticated 
weapons today depend on 
dual use technology — civil¬ 
ian and military." For starters, 
it's said that the Apple II alone 
is fully capable of missile 
guidance (if not when runnng 
Applesoft!). 

The Assistant Secretary for 
US defence hascitedthefully 
computerised 9th American 
army Division as the sort of 
thing the Russians want to 
emulate. "Humph!" said a 
USSR press rep. "They would 
say that, wouldn't they? 
Americans always over¬ 
react." 

Meanwhile, Western com¬ 


panies are steeling them¬ 
selves for fierce competition 
over export to the Soviet bloc. 
Rumour has it that four 
hundred ZX81s are already 
lined up ready for shipment 
to Czechoslovakia. (That 
should worry the Pentagon.) 
It has also been alleged that 
Acorn has spent thousands 
on several Beeb-promoting 
visits to the East (see also BIG 
K issue #1). 

"Not true," says David 
Springle, Acorn grand from- 
age. "It'll be at least two years 
before trade starts. You jour¬ 
nalists have been hassling me 
all week. I've just come back 
from holiday in Russia — 
that's all!" 

Not a lot of agreement, 
generally. One thing's for 
sure — computers sold to the 
USSR'II have no capability to 
talk to each other a la Micro- 
net or Prestel. So don't expect 
to tap Rusknet, Sovinet or 
Rednet. Meanwhile, Big K is 
waiting for some interesting 
Socialist/Realist software to 
break borders — or perhaps 
the arrival of the odd dissi¬ 
dent (corrupted no doubt by 
a sneak preview of Jet Set 
Willy). Until then, nastrovia. 
































ill 




AUTOMATA U.K. 

The Pi man’s Software House 



DEUSEXMACHINA 






DEUS EX MACHINA 48K Spec. Kempston 
Joystick & ZX Interface 2 compatible. The 
unique new era of entertainment, starring 
Ian Dury, Jon Pertwee, Frankie Howerd and 
you, in an animated televised fantasy, 
synchronised to an incredible stereo sound¬ 
track. There is nothing like it in this world. 


PIMANIA 48K Spec. The Cult Adventure 
that's for real! Could you be the lucky 
winner of 'The Golden Sundial of Pi'? Many 
have tried and failed. Voted program of 
1983 by the Computer Trade Association 
(Joint winner). 


PIMANIA 



PIROMANIA 



p| ROMANIA 48K Spec. M/C Arcade Style, 


Kempston Joystick & ZX Interface 2 
compatible. Strike a light! Fire your imagin¬ 
ation. That bright spark of a Piman is 
flaming well out to make the residents of 
Automata Towers the toast of the town! 

Can you help Walter Hose dampen the 
Piman's extinguished career and help the 
inmates give up smoking? 


DARTZ 48K Spec. Family fun. This 
'arrowing version of your local's favourite 
game! Includes true life scoring with 'The 
more you play the more you drink, the 
worse your game becomes' rule! 


PI-EYED 48K Spec. M/C Arcade Style. 
Kempston Joystick compatible. The Piman's 
hit the bottle! Can you help him negotiate 
the traffic and drink the town dry? 


YAKZEE 48K Spec, and Dragon. Family 
fun. An oriental game of luck and skill for 
1 to 4 players, playing between 1 to 4 
rounds. Each tape comes with both the 
Dragon and the 48K Spectrum versions 
along with a simple to follow guide on how 
to play YAKZEE. 


DARTZ 






PI EYED 



CRUSOE 48K Spec. M/C Graphic & Text 
Adventure. Shipwrecked and stranded, on 
ye remote island, with nothing save a bottle 
of Granny's patent elixyr,an empty stomach, 
ye shorts that he stands up in . . and thou*. 

Ye adventure is only just beginning. Can you 
help him escape ye island's perils? 


PI-IN'ERE 48K Spec. M/C Arcade Style. 
Kempston Joystck & ZX Interface 2 
compatible. 61 screens of action as Burt 
searches for the elusive bug inside a 
computer, while keeping out of the reaches 
of the minor menaces. The program includes 
Hi-Score, Save and Load facility as well as 
Replay from last position feature. 


OLYMPIMANIA 48K Spec. M/C Arcade 
Style. Currah Micro Speech & Kempston 
Joystick compatible. For all those who just 
can't get enough of the Olympics, the Piman 
stages his own just for you! Yes he's going for 
gold in the craziest events you've ever seen! 
Can you set new world records in the 
Speepichase, Alpi Ski-ing, Pitathlon, Pi-Jump, 
or even the Butterpi? The Piland International 
Anthem on the flip side. 

PI-BALLED 48K Spec. M/C Arcade Style. 
Currah Microspeech & Kempston Joystick 
compatible. Bouncy, bouncy, this fast action 
game will let you have a ball! Starring The 
Balls Brothers, Sid the Snake, Jas'n'Col, and 
your friend and ours The Piman. 


MORRIS MEETS THE BIKERS 

16/48K Spec. M/C Arcade Style. Kempston 
Joystick compatible. Morris finds himself 
abandoned in a multi-storey car park. Help 
him gather the 10 coins per screen to pay his 
way out, while avoiding the kamikaze bikers. 


GO TO JAIL 48K Spec. 

Family fun. A computer property trading 
game for up to 5 players. Your computer not 
only acts as a banker, but can also take on the 
roll of a ruthless player, buying, selling and 
trading its own property. 


YAKZEE 



CRUSOE 



PI-IN'ERE 



OLYMPIMANIA 



MORRIS/BIKERS 


1 





. i - 




GO TO JAIL 


NEW WHEELS JOHN? 48K Spec. Family fun. Would you buy a used 
motor from this man? Dare you clock an old banger? Have you ever 
wondered what it's like to run your own second-hand car lot? Wheel 
leave the rust to you! 


BACKCHAT CBM64 Speech Synthesiser. Automata's speech synthesiser 
comes complete with easy to use Programming Manual and Software cassette 
containing both BASIC & M/Code programs, so you can now add speech 
to all your home grown games using BACKCHAT's allophone vocabulary. 


ORDER COUPON 



CRUSOE.48KSpec£6n 

PI-EYED.48KSpec£6n 

PIROMANIA .... 48K Spec £60 

PI-IN'ERE. 48KSpec£6n 

YAKZEE .. Dragon/48K Spec EBQ 


DEUSEXMACHINA.48K Spec £150 

GO TO JAIL.48KSpec £60 


PIMANIA.48KSpec£10D 

0 LYMPIMANIA.48K Spec £60 

PI-BALLED. 48KSpec 

DARTZ. 48K Spec 

NEW WHEELS JOHN? 48K Spec 
Piman's Stereo L.P. Cassette . 

EBQ Overseas £7| | 


ebD 

£50 

£30 


MORRIS MEETS THE BIKERS.. Any Spec £6[I 

T-SHIRTS State Size. Price £B| 

'BACKCHAT' Speech Synth. CBM64 with Software 8i Programming Book.£2BI 

PIMANIACS CLUB for 20% off all products, Pl-Monthly Magazine. Annual Subscription U.K 

/ enclose the right money, or debit my ACCESS/VISA Card. My Card number is . 

Card holders signature . Card holders name . My name . 

My address . 

. Post Code . 

NO EXTRAS! AH our prices include VAT and Postage & Package. 24 hr.-CREDIT CARD HOT LINE (0705) 735242. 

Send your order and payment to: AUTOMATA U.K. LTD. 27 HIGHLAND ROAD, PORTSMOUTH, HANTS. P04 9DA, ENGLAND. 


















































































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PICK OF THE MONTH 


IDEAL HOLMES 


The world’s most famous detective made his first appearance 100 years ago 
in a magazine story called ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’. Today, he lives on in the 
form of a computer adventure from those Wizards of Oz, Melbourne House. 


E vening was failing over Baker Street 
and Sherlock Holmes and I, as was our 
habitual wont at this time of day, were smok¬ 
ing our pipes and reading the evening news¬ 
paper. 

“Great news, Watson!” said my friend, tap¬ 
ping his pipe out on my knee, while simul¬ 
taneously measuring out a “fix” of cocaine. 

“The game’s afoot. Holmes?” I replied hope¬ 
fully — for life in our Baker Street lodgings 
had, of late, been dull indeed. 

“The game, old friend,” replied he, “is more 
than a foot. It’s ahead!” 

I laughed — somewhat dutifully, I confess, 
since I had not the faintest idea what he was 
talking about and feared that the evil drug 
already coursing through his veins was 
rendering him incoherent. 

“Ahead of what?” I ventured, eyeing the re¬ 
volver on the nearby table and wondering if I 
could possibly get to it before he did. 

“Of the competition, dear boy!” replied my 
friend. “See, it is here, in the newspaper. Mel¬ 
bourne has struck again!” 

I replied that I did not know the gentleman, 
adding that I presumed it was yet another alias 
adopted by our old adversary. Professor 
Moriarty. 

Holmes eyed me with a measure of impati¬ 
ence. “Sometimes, Watson, I wonder about 
you . . .” he sighed, then his gaze resumed its 
original piercing quality. “Melbourne,” he said, 
“is not Moriarty. It is a company with, I believe, 
Australian connexions. 

“Their line of trade is the manufacture of 
analytical games of a questing nature, to oper¬ 
ate in conjunction with the Babbage Analytical 
Engine. I realise that this is possibly new to 
you, but then, you, with all your sterling qual¬ 
ities, do not follow scientific developments as 
closely as I. In brief, then; the company has 
already scored a remarkable commercial suc¬ 
cess with a game titled, I believe. The Habit. 
Naturally there has been pressure upon the 
directors to produce what is termed a Tollow- 


From: MELBOURNE HOUSE 
Format: cassette. Price: £14.95. 

up’; and here, in the Daily Chronicle, is a report 
on the new product. Allow me,” he continued, 
overriding my protests, “to read it to you. If 
there are any unfamiliar terms I shall explain 
them in due course.” 

He picked up the Chronicle, which crackled 
in his steely grip. I was pleased to note that the 
drug-induced brightness in his eyes had given 
way to the old eager glitter. 

“ ‘Melbourne's new potential blockbuster dis¬ 
plays nwfiy of the licks and trademarks which 
made its predecessor so famous: real-time ac¬ 
tion, a touph and intricate plotline, sturdy if 
transitory graphics, and a truly enormous 
vocabulary made relatively easy to handle by 
the use ofinplish' - that’s ‘English’ with an ‘T, 
Watson.” 

Alimentary 

“With an eye?” I responded feebly, for I had 
already found he had been correct: I barely 
understood a word of the report. 

“Aye,” he replied, and continued reading 
aloud. 

“ ‘The story starts with the two main pro¬ 
tagonists in the famous Baker Street sitting 
room. They are reading the Daily Chronicle. 
News in the paper of a murder in Leatherhead 
sets the famed pair off on the scent, by hansom 
to Victoria Station. In taking up the quest for 
the murderer(s), they are once again up against 
Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard.‘ “ 

“The same Lestrade?” I asked, astonished. 

“The same,” he replied, and continued to 
read. “ ‘Getting Watson to read the paper is 
difficult, as the old boy seems almost paralytic 
with stupidity' — I beg you, Watson, allow me 
to continue — ‘but perseverance brings its own 
reward and soon you find yourself in the 
street.' ” 

“The bounder who wrote this calumny will 


find himself in the street fast enough once I get 
through with him!” I roared, for I was in¬ 
candescent with rage. 

Holmes smiled thinly and continued to read. 
“ ‘Use of the Animtalk technique allows the 
player to give instructions to other characters in 
the game, a method first pioneered in its prede¬ 
cessor. However, asking Watson to, for exam¬ 
ple, pay the cabbie produces the usual dimwit- 
ted non-response and in the end you have to pay 
the man yourself.' ” 

“By God ” I raved, stamping in fury at this 
unmitigated libel. 

“ ‘At least the old codger doesn 't hang around 
singing of gold — a small mercy but welcome 
enough.' ” 

At this point I snatched the paper from my 
hawk-featured friend and read it myself 

“ A.s Holmes, you will find yourself ex¬ 
traordinarily lazy. You never walk anywhere, it 
seems, hut stick to trains and cabs — in keeping 
with, the great detective's naturally indolent 
character.'" Holmes frowned, but already I 
was feeling slightly mollified. 

“ ‘Moreover, real time passes, kept track of — 
poor English, there. Holmes, I fancy — 'by a 
digital clock on the screen. Incidentally, Typing 
the word NO produces what is colloquially 
known as a “crash".' ” 

There was a long pause. Downstairs, there 
was a thunder of crockery as Mrs Hudson, dead 
drunk as usual, fell over while bringing up our 
suppers. 

“Was that what the writer means by a 
crash?” I asked timidly, for Holmes was 
apparently in a trance. 

“Eh? What? No!” replied my friend. 

“Then what does he mean? And what is the 
other word digital?” But there was no reply 
from the Best and Wisest Man I Have Ever 
Known. 

So after some minutes of silence I refilled my 
pipe from the Persian Slipper and sat down at 
the desk to compose a letter to my solicitor. — 

Conan Doyle. 



Too r i nd your 
self in a large 
lavish ly 
decorated 
bedroom. In one 
corner stands an 
upright piano 
with a selection 
of sheet music 
on top. On a 
table by the 
window,p which 
looKs down on a 
well Kept garden 
is a new and 
expensive 
looking 
gramophone . 

■: >: >: >: 4®!^ >: >: 

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> 

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“Holmes eyed me with a measure of impatience." 

















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KOSMIC KANGA, a multi-screen, amazing, arcade standard original action game. 
Featuring superbly animated graphics and packed full of arcade features. 

Help KANGA find his space ship so he can return home to his planet. 

Leap about buildings, trees, clouds etc., pick up bonuses and throw boxing 
gloves at the enemies. 

Keyboard or most joystick. 48K SPECTRUM & COMMODORE 64 



Tutankhamun 


48K Spectrum 


Pengy 



Invasion Force 


CO 


Q. 

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CO 

00 



16K/48K Spectrum 



ONLY £5.95 EACH 

Available from most good software retailers. 

If your local software retailer is out of stock, send 
cheque/P.O. to Micromania, 14 Lower Hill Rd., 
Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LT., and we will send your 
order by first class post free. 




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DEALERS-AVAILABLE FROM ALL LEADING DISTRIBUTORS OR MICROMANIA (03727) 20152 


















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AUTHORISED 
TEXAS INSTRUMENT 
DEALER 


PRE-CHRISTMAS SALE 

on 

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EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR CHILDREN 

ADD & SUB 1 Makes Learning Fun for Numbers 0-9.9.95 

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NUMERATION Introduce your Child to Number Concepts such as 

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STARTER PACK 1 100 page Manual plus Cassette.8.95 

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GAME WRITER 1 Learn to write your own games (cass. & Book).8.95 

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TEACH YOURSELF BASIC.8.95 

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GAMES ALL CARTRIDGE 

ALIEN ATTACK Shoot Em Up Good Action.10.95 

Tl INVADERS All Time Classic.14.95 

MUNCH MAN Tl Great Version of Pac Man.14.95 

TOMBSTONE CITY Very fast Action Game.10.95 

ZERO ZAP Pinball Spectacular Game.10.95 

CHESS The Ultimate Stratergy Game..24.95 

INDOOR SOCCER Five-a-Side Fun & Action.10.95 

CASSETTE CABLE LEAD.9.95 

QUICKSHOTII JOYSTICK + INTERFACE.19.95 

99'er MAGAZINE FROM AMERICA.2.75 

DUST COVERS.2.95 


AMSTRAD CPC 64 


WORD HANG.8.95 

HAPPYNUMBERS.8.95 

WORLD WISE.8.95 

HAPPY LETTERS.8.95 

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TIME MAN 1 .8.95 

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HOMERUNNER.8.95 

HARRIER ATTACK.8.95 

SULTAN'S MAZE.8.95 

SPANNER MAN.8.95 

OH MUMMY.8.95 

ROLAND IN THE CAVE (Fred off Spec).8.95 

ROLAND ON THE ROPES (Bugaboo).8.95 

CHESS.8.95 

LASER WARP.8.95 

HAUNTED HEDGES.8.95 

CODE NAME MATT.8.95 

HUNTER KILLER.8.95 

ALIEN BREAKIN.8.95 

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CASTLE OFTHE SKULL LORD (Advent.).8.95 

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DUST COVERS Green Screen & Keyboard.5.95 

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WATERPROOF — WASHABLE — ANTI-STATIC 


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SEND SAE FOR LIST 

SEND CHEQUE OR POSTAL ORDER NOW TO: 

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STATING NAME, ADDRESS, TEL. No. & GOODS 

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WITH YOUR ACCESS/BARCLAY CARD NO. 

* General enquiries ring (0942) 322543 


TO: BLUE CHIP COMPUTERS. 16 Clapgate Lane, WIGAN 
Please send me . 


Name . 

Address . 

.Tel. 

I enclose a cheque/p. order to the value of £. 



























































































■ cVNatWestl 

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All orders for goods supplied through the On Line system will be fulfilled by Empire Stores Ltd., at 18 Canal Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire. This scheme is available to any applicant undr-r thr age of 19. 

For current interest rate please ask at your local NatWest branctr. 



















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Tandy Cuts The Cost of Business Efficienqf! 


New Low Price 


Model 4 £ 
2-Drive 


999 


Previous Price £1129.00 
New Low Price 

ModeM E 

1-Drive V 


Previous Price £999.00 


Take The "Transportable"Model4P With You, 

It Weighs Only 26 Pounds! 

Available at aU Tandy Computer Centres and 
at Tandy stores and participating dealers 


...Model 4 Desktop or Portable, 
Tops on Price and Performance! 


Tandy Model 4 and Model 4P Microcomputers are designed for the 
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the boot of the car. 25-1080 . £999.00 Exc. VAT 

Tandy Model 4 two disk drive desktop model provides 368K of disk storage 
(184K each drive) and has an optional RS-232C Serial Interface for 
communications. It comes complete with Microsoft Disk* BASIC and 
TRSDOS 6 operating system, an owner’s manual, reference card, 
programming manual and an introduction to start you computing 

immediately 64K 2-DUk. 26-1069 . £999.00 Exc. VAT 

64K 1-Disk. 26-1068 £849.00 Exc. VAT 


Take A Look At Tandy, 
Today 

Visit your local store or dealer and 
ask about our expanding range 
microcomputers and software 
- we service what we sell! 


Yellow Pages For Address 


’ag< 

Of Store Nearest You 


mm 




[COMPUTER centre] 


Send For Further Information to: 

Computer Marketing, Tandy Corporation (Branch UK), 
Tameway Tower, Bridge Street, Walsall, 

West Midlands. WSl ILA. Tel: 0922-648181 


Name .. 
Address 


\J» 08 t Code.Tel. No.(wci2y 




















































CHALLENGE 

•ncentwe) commodore64 


UM 48K 

drink, the cartoon de 
your actions. Very st 
Likewise the audio tra 
the flip- Smashing sti 

say- Hie. — S.K. 

MaKerrAUTO^TA 

Format: cassette 
Price: £5.00 
Graphics: 10^ 

PlayalJility* 
Overall: “ 180 . 


VIDEO GAMES ° CDMPUTER GAMES ° VIDE 


MO SCORE 

‘fSiSU*. 

iSigig 

SSetheSrospecLgamesc^^^^^ 

aSSinwhichtobecompiled.lfyoucorn^ 

pile ihn the middle of young Sidney, 


52 single byte integers and 26 double byte 'afs- 

beeasytofollow.Asubroutine called A isnot 

-ss-sis*'; 

rH=-— 

specific as Scope.-K.A. 

Game: SCOPE 64 

COMMODORE 64 
Format: cassette 
Price: & 1 ' 7.95 
Bating: K 


iPLAT/CBM 64 

#i=sf= 

rs£s\TundTSanrGodhelpZgf 

9rrx“.5— 

, Jshifthimisashovelandlotsofsoapywater. 


ting: 

WORSE THINGS Hff 

Neatly drawn nautical "°"®®"®® " ocean liner in order to guide 
a mousand leaks on board.on ^"9 compartments 

ft into port. The ship . mad as you trundle frantically 

Sf wo k has a tendency to againstthe rising 

fl salt water. Sailors will *'"'',f„VbXve 1 

ffde ontheirhands PersonalW^be^ ,j,ing yet put by 

Game: WORSE THINGS^PMAT^^^^^ 

?ofmltSaSe° Price: £5.95 Batxng: KKK 


born again 

CHECKOUT/ 
BBC 'B' 

: In the corner of my room I've 

' got a stack of Virgin 

^ Every so often 1 glance in that 

Sion and have a good 

^ ®'^Uhere's an exceptirm to 
i every rule, and Checkout 

‘ ®®Th^^e^gets its name 
from its star voung Che®to^ 
Charlie. He's a ta^^er seedy 
: looking character with short 
ipos and dark glasses. The 
reason for the glasses is easy 
fsee- the colours are blind- 
: ng and have a tasty habit of 
flashing like a traffic light 

: having a fit when something 

good happens. 


Splatls a tine example u. a... 7 - -r 7 . 
vupll with an imaginative use of graphics. Alter 
rilteXRo 9 S®tS'''‘ 2 od knows what 

JoSesSte changetoseesomet^^ 
rSheTcan afford to give some instructions 
with it.—K.A. 

Game: SPLA.T 

SSke: COMMODORE 64 
i Format: cassette 


Wondertuiiy . 

simulation from those wacky 
Ctomata people. Now m 
certainly no P'aver myse 
(the game-play is baffling.) 

Eutlcan'thelpbutapprecate 

the attention to detail 
match'have been carefully 

Snintotheplay.SuPPmg 

nenerously after each leg my 
nlaver's alcohol content 
blqan to dramatically rise^ 
Warning bells 

gfg"g?Y^t O dizfy^'o^ipsy • Indeed 

shr’mV« 

S?n^btto^tufedfloor^ 

Sli:rr/ror|, 

authentic. . xj^ct 

The presentation is hrst 

rate. There's a spht screen 
SoarfalorlS with a neatly 


Chas's mission in life, for 
reasons best knovvn to him, 

is to change the colour of the 

floor in his room — twice, 
SuLe by square. Running 
over a square a third home 
causes the square to revert to 

fts original colour and has to 

be run over twice more. 

Death - obligatory m 
i games of this kind — is dealt 
: by a remote robot which 

i patrols the edges of the room^ 

: At regular intervals, when the 
^ egg timer at the edge of the 
: room runs out, this heap of 
scrap metal lets loose with a 

: S blast. If Charlie gets in 

the way he farts gently and 
fades from the screen. What 

.witogoCoodMuftFrom 

Virgin, too. Keep an eye out 
for flying pigs. — K.A. 

Maker: VIRGIN GAMES 

Foriaet: cassette 
Price: 

Graphics: KA 

PlayahUityt^Ei 
























A Classical 


^MES-COMPUTER GAMEl 


= Could Be Better 
= Coxold Be Worse 
= Unsurpassable 


lESoCOMI 


KOSIWIC KAIMGA/ 
SPECTRUM 48K 

beating about the 
’'^'cromania have 
^ Following a 

handful of passable (but 
unexciting) arcade conver- 

s.ons they've produced thX 
own original game-and it's 

a winner! In it you must help 
nga, an alien Kangaroo 
phone home. This involves 
eaping tall buildings 
(amongst other things) with 
a single bound and avoiding 

all manner ofobstacles in the 

ensuing scenarios. These 

trifr^® w" Where 

trucks and planes do their 


best to trundle over you • the 
ocean. Where craL and 

arrnl*' r'^''°“ 9 h Atlantis! 

the r ^ into 

' the countryside. It's quite a 
journey! 

Thankfully you needn't relv 
on agility alone. When com 
fronted by a deadly be^h 
buggy (or similar) Kanga can 

Qufm a® 9'°''®- 

Quite a potent weapon! I 

i crX^’go'tmeVvXlm^ 

are graphics 

are excellent and Kosmic 
Kanga displays enough 
mention to disguiselS 
obvious Jet-Pac origins It’s 
^'4® ^''ghtfully addictive. 
After 30 minutes of abject 


64 

£ut 

oout, Cuthbert finds himself 
avaging Moronians. Every- 
pOe^ as to earn a living I sup- 

hp^f, *^® game starts, Cuth- 
, space craft, which 
would probably be more a^ 
home in a carnival proces- 


style i 

at the bottom of the screen. » 
slides back, reveal- ^ 
ng Cuthbert and the some- 1 ■ 
What ludicrous message : . 
arriving on Vyxelt' The 

inTwh® Gather- 

ne Wheels, or that's what 

*a7t°°H Cuthbert ; 

as to destroy/avoid these M 

while picking up-fuel pods. As S 
aoon as he gets all the fuel U 

, ']® tioes a spot of loot- M 
9 efore being dragged off 

Sirt * 

exactly the same as the pre¬ 
vious one, with a different but 

equally stupid name. 

s O.K. but there's a lot of 
room for improvement. Not 
the sort of thing I'd nav . ^ 
money for. — K.A ^ ^ 

Maker: MICRODEAL 
format: cassette/disc 

Price: f>n/oo 


screen failure, I dug out my 
bothsf!°" 'stick and found 
Star 

After that there was no 
escape! The CBM can keen 
Its mutant camels. Kanoe 

^PS are far more classy.- 
J^^micromamia 

^nnat: caasette 

®rice:^, 5.95 

®raj«h^!KKjj 

"ddlctiveness: KKK 
^yabflliy:KKK™ 

^'^eralLKKK::, 


Price: ^.4.75/^,3.9 o 

Graphics: KK 
Playability: K 
Addiction: K 
Overall: K 


the odyssey of 
HOPE/SPECTRUM 
48K 

Having ransacked Tolkein, the 

Legends of Ancient Greece 
seem to be next in line for 
software exploitation. And 
why not! The place was 
obviously made with adven¬ 
tures and simulations in 
mind. 

In this scenario the gods of 
Mount Olympus are well 
cheesed off. Some rascal has 
stolen Hope from poor ol' 
Pandora s box and us mor¬ 
tals are in an advanced state 
®'''®s have 
and lightning bolts 
s ab from the sky. Zeus is 
clearly off his chump. Only 
you can venture out and 
recover Hope for all man 

Much effort has been spent 

®''®®bng an authentic 
world here, and all to great 
effect. Indeed, followers of the 
period will have a definite 
advantage over us lesser 
mortals when it comes to 
solving the quest. All the 
“cations are illustrated, but 
*1 ®®, .f.PPear instantly so 
playability has not been sac- 

[hr^'i; d®s®riptions 

*^°®gb are sparse. I'd have 


> TH< OOYfKY 
OFHOP< 


preferred more evocative text 
to be honest, but then that's 
all a matter of taste. 

From my initial wander- 
mgs I'd say that the game is 
of a fair size and offers ade¬ 
quate headaches. If the sub¬ 
ject matter appeals then this 
IS well worth checking out. — 
S.K. 

Maker; MABTECH GAMES 
Pormat: cassette 
Price: £3.95 
Graphics: KK 
Hasrabilily: KK 
Addictiveness: K 
Overall:KK 





















TURBO CHARGE I 

hrouR spectruimI 



Outperforms any Spectrum interface 


The unique Turtx) interfece from Ram gives you all these 
features - and more - in one unit: 

❖ A variety of interfeces including Rom cartridges, two 9-way D plugs 
for standard joysticks, PLUS full expansion bus at rear. 

Hs Compatible with Kempston and Protek protocols. 

^ Wofte with latest Quickshot Mk II auto rapid-fire joysticks! 

❖ Choice of Rom cartridge or tape cassette software. 

❖ Instant program bading with cartridge software. 


Or call our credit card hot line on 02514 25252. (Access and 
Visa welcome). 

Ram Electronics (Reet) Ltd, 106 Reet Road, Reet, Hampshire 
GU138RA. 


Reasesendme: 

_Spectrum Turbo lnterfece(s) at £22.95 

+ £1 p+p (overseas orders £3 p+p) 

_Quickshot II Joystbk(s) at £9.95 

(Only when purchased with Tutbo-normally £12.95 -I- fl p-rp) 



Built-in power safety device - unique to Ram Turbo. 


I encbse cheque/postal order or charge my Access/Visa for £_ 


Hs Full one year guarantee. 


CSS 


* Immediate availability-24 Hridespatch on receipt of 
PO./credit card details (cheques-seven days). 

* Incredible value-only £22.95. 

So don’t wait around - simply comptete 
the coupon and send it to us today. 


Name_ 

Address. 



TeL 


To: Ram Electronics (Fleet) Ltd, 106 Fleet Road, Reet, Hampshire GU13 8PA. 

B'H 


J 

Trade and export enquiries welcome. 










































OMPUTER GAMES "VIDEO GAM 






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ECOMELOSIE 

WOLF... 


... sole survivor of a devastating attack on the 
monastery of Kai. 


A great cloud of black 
has swept down and engulfed 
All the Kai Lords, whose secret 
learning, have been killed. 


beasts 
xthe monastery, 
^^killsyou were 



Raising your face to the sky, you 
swear revenge on the Darklordsofthe 
West. But first, you must warn the King 
of the invasion, retrieve Sommerswerd 
and then use it to beat off the attackers. There 
are now two exciting LONE WOLF adventure games. 
Each one requires you to assume the mantle of Lone 
Wolf, make all his decisions for him, and actually 
fight his combats move by move. You really are 
Lone Wolf. 



TkE LESSONS OF COMBAT 
AND ENDURANCE 

When you were training with the Kai Lords, 
you acquired many secretskills and disciplines. Now, 
you may need to use them. You may need to improve 
some, and disregard others. 


"Combat Skills” may be needed todefeatthe 
enemies you encounter on your way to reaching the 
beleaguered King, and whilst savingyour country. 
You will need “Endurance” to survive. Each decision 
you make can alter the course of your adventure. So 
choose wisely, foryou will 
often be totally surprised by 
the effect your^. 
choice may 
have on 
your survival, 



TLiE SURVimi DISCIPLINES 

Over the centuries, the Kai Lords had mastered 
the ski I Is of the warrior. As you proceed through your 


adventure you may find that you are becoming more 
and more proficient. If you, too, have mastered these 
skills they may save your Iife! 



You can learn howto hide undetected amongst 
rocks and trees of the countryside. In a city, you can 
look and sound I ike a native which may help you to 
find shelter. 


Learn how to communicate with animals and 
move objects by sheer concentration alone. 

You can develop a “Sixth Sense” that warns you 
ofimminent danger. It may also reveal the true nature 
ofa stranger. 

“Tracking" may help you choose the right path 
and decipher prints or tracks ofcreatures in the wild. 

















Thedisciplineof 
“Healing” can restore 
your “Endurance” after 
being wounded in 
combat. 

TfiE “COMBAT" 
SKILLS 

When you entered 
theKai monastery you 
were taught to fight with daggers, spears, 
warhammers, axes and swords. 

The evil Darklords, though, have the ability to 
attack using “Mindforce”. LoneWolfcan learn the 
discipline of "Mindshield” and also“Mindblast'’, the 
old Kai Lord's ability to fight using the forces ofthe 
mind alone. You, Lone Wolf control the combat, you 
decide whetherto fight or not, and you alone can 
manipulate the moves. 

The equipment to survive 

You set out with just an axe, a leather pouch of 
gold crowns and a map of Sommerlund which you 



The LONE WOLF ADVENTURES 

The creators of LON E WOLE are joe Dever and 
Gary Chalk. In 1982, Joe won the Advanced 
“Dungeons and Dragons” Championship in America. 

Gary has had 17 years 
experience of war 
games, and is the 
originator of the highly 
successful “Cry Havoc” 
and “Starship Captain”. 



Together they have created twoj^ique ad ventures 
combiningthe skills^ 
of mental and ~ 
physical dexterity. 

And there are more to comeJ' 

The presentation is visually 
exciting, and involves you 
totally in every action and 
reaction. 



Discover the LONE WOLE adventures “Elight 
From the Dark" and "Fire on the Water". Now, available 
individually in a special gift box, including a cassette and 
illustrated bookfor£8.95. (Softwareonly £6.95 each.) 



have discovered amongst the smoking ruins of the 
monastery, 

V/s r i.r 

You are about 


to begin the most 
incredible adventure 
ofyour life. 




Etc 


We challenge tou to defeat the 

DARKLORDS IN THE LASTLANDS 

lON^OlF 

Avai lable from lead i ng software stores. 

Dealer enquiries to Nick Ford, Arrow Publications, 
17-21 Conway Street, London W1P 6jD. Tel: 01-387 2811 










VO '0® 

se®^ c,e 

vN'T'O''®. oO oO<®® ^'' ^ac''" 



































SPACE STATION 

ALPHA ^ 

A GRAPHICAL 
SPACE BATTLE 


' The deadly cylon neet has reached its 

/ destinotlozL Their objective - destroy planet 

earth. Each ship in the fleet carries a single 
devastating lithium torpedo. Earth shields ore 
up but their power is being drained. You, as 
commander of ecolhs lost remaining space station 
are all that stands between the cylons and earths i 
total obliteration l 

£ 7.95 ^-1 I 


A GRAPHICAL 

■ j ADVENTURE GAME 

JouriMy through the medieval lands oi Somagora in search 
ome three pieces of the long lost crown of Ultimate Darkness 
Battle with vicious brigands, ovoid the greed of the great 
dragon, suffer plagues and famine in pursuit of your ultimate 
goal. 

This is a graphical adventure in which you play the part of Zorakk 
and take control of his loyal warriors. p« 


65 HIGH STREET. GOSFORTH, TYNE & WEAR, NE3 4AA. 
TEL: (091) 2846966 

AVAILABLE FROM ALL GOOD COMPUTER STORES 

OR DIRECT FROM US! y 

TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME 



























cassette unit 

For program storage and retrieval. Forfasi 


avast 


There’s something for everyone and for all interests...V^thought-provoking, amusing, entertainichalk 


Plus excellent sprite graphics aimazi 


(About the only thing the Commodore 64 doesn't ha\s ai 

















































printer plotter, 

1 Plots graphs, constructs bar and K pie charts. Prints in 4 colours. 

single disk drive, 

I of programs.^^^ Uses a 5W' diskette, and has a very large 170K memorv 



'agiand retrieval of programs.Uses a 5W' diskette, and has a very large 17 

ick'ni^paddles, 

itrcof games directly into your hands...they ialso improve both speed and accuracy. 


im( 




Ware 


challenging, and exciting. 



_ (business, 

Jo cover the essential office and business needs... 


jcational. 


rated with the help and advice of specialists. 


/on 

r 


anamazing music synthesis capabilities 



games) 

^^From shoot ’em up to strategy. 



THE COMMODORE 64 COSTS JUST £229 (OR LESS). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE TICK ONE OR MORE, OF THE BOXES 
AND SEND TO: COMMODORE INFORMATION CENTRE, 1 HUNTERS ROAD, 
WELDON, CORBY, NORTHAMPTON NN17 1QX. TEL: CORBY (05361205252. 



COMMODORE 64 □ MONITOR □ 

PRINTERS, PRINTER PLOTTER □ DISK DRIVE □ 

NAME 


CASSETTE UNIT □ 
SOFTWARE □ 


ADDRESS 


iv(isany serious competition. 



Cr commodore 























































1 


* HEXOGONBU * 

BY 


3l REH 

2 REM 

3 REM 
A REM * 

5 REM ♦ 

V REM ♦ J.Wir-iwr.. ^ 

I rIh h*^ft-********** 

II ISsuB aiie 

UET^C=0 

4.7 CL.S _ « -7: '‘H E X R 

_JL .-kruTl 


DT ^ 

J.WINCHESTER * 


s5 PRINT BT ^ 

W'pRIKT HT 


G O H 


RT 


^.E;“BY 


ujnc^mest 


^«r, print 

’erS|T K.?„^., 

kS pp+g’s 

r?? Pi^pT="l00®®‘' 

90 L-ET 

95 NEXT P ^ ^ 

3 00 r>TM ,;:r* 5 ^ 

115 LET 1J 5^; -••4.65e4-‘' 

X20 li 14) = 

xas LET B|l*' .34^44^- 

130 LET g*'-'^o 5 
X3S <-LiB J\"7. .; _■ ^3000 

14-0 Li_ • •*^ 

n| tif 

X4& LLT LK _0 
xl.b LET P=P7j 

ill ^I^KK^^^S^THEN goto 1^9 

III hiT r=^:| 

X5T LET 0-0 IhEH GOTO l^-P 
ill GOSUB GS®0 




then PRXNT 

THEN PRINT 


Ht P + l-‘ 


ITS LET P=10 
t-7^ LET 0=P 

ItE let x=x 

XT? Y) ='■ 

isa ®$‘ 5 r 

T P ,• o.; R$X V) =“0" 

IIS SoSOB ®®®f 8 6 ;-SCORES^ NO-X 

TBB EG. BX" 

11^ "g l=g!r 

G, = - X" T 
BND G» = -S” T 

HEN GOTO 20L fv 

IIS UET‘^B»tX..Y)=STR«i (UBL B* 

"iff bi^ Si®x..Y,=G, 

ill boSUB Tf® -then GOTC 
005 ir G^— 
iso LET Gf = __l 
23 X GuT O 

12 s ogo^lTO; 

22? N = x TO 5 

??| ^S”uBL^B#°n!hJ >= 00 *- 
Xil^IF°J = X®*^°'^^^ GOSUB 9000 
■720 NEXT M 

-705 next n 

730 RETURN -pjjpM let R$ilN + X.«M>- 

€! lH<?i ; 

=|0B IF N<>= " 


23E 





fn th/s fiendish strategy ooc 

s"mu/af/on - with nuclear ov, 

two players attempt to outj 
each other and avoid the CHAIN 
reaction. Full instructions 
contained within 
the program. .d 


For ZX8I By 
JOE 

WINCHESTER 












‘Jos ir NOS OND HOI THEN LET 

+ ^_ET o$(N..M-lJ = 

s||| ‘^f^h<”l‘TAEN^LET'c$(N..H-l) = 

TP m,v5 then let R$tN,M + l)- 
-ih THEN^EET'cStN..M + l> = 

sf N - i^H + 1 j' ^kr^T tufiu^B- i'Tm +1J 

+ |4l IF NOl and H<>5 then LET C 
S tN-l^.M + i' -^VhEN let R$tN-l..M>- 

4ii thIn"Ut’c*(N-i.h^ = 

"its tlr c||n::m5 ="0“ 

.III 

I_E”r" P —^ 

'if\r>r^y^BH GOTO ISa 

llll bl^ xll^i 

nil bFx°>6"THEN GOTO 132 

pll blT J|=0^^ ^ 

gill FOR 0 = 1 TO 5 t-hEN let XS = 

QOS© ^ 

Sl^rbF”libL°0, =”H- THEN LET YS = 

9035 next L txS=0 OR Y5=0) T 

S|a'’oo?o‘=lo=§ 

90-Lg then pbint bt bo,o; 


ISll ir'iVi- THEN STOP 

llll Ei?^'lT'"?c5p..2TE.P..CHP* L 

ills f&9r" --p.^=-■= 

of^TURN 


®‘"iif^'^:p"-orrN°: :e7p:’:n 

9610 PRINT H tm 

.^15 PRINT •• VOU MRY ONLY Gu 
§g4"p5lNT HLXRGON.. OR ONE .1 

llCiiSf "^iSI-H^TlSrvSu- GO IN 
:|:i^ifST---THE NUHEER OE PIPO.R 

JSo^^glNT -HEXRGON INCRER..E5 B r 

ai!2|-pRINT •• UHEN THE NUMBEW xN 
P^e^lS^S^^- BHRCHES THE NOHBER O 
QftsE'^PRINT "HEXfiGONS t EG '' 6 

Sgg0%SIS?'^"XN THE CENTRE) THEN 
ife explodes. IT--S NUMB 

lgT§°lllN?""XERO RND THE NUHBERS 
a-B^'pRINT^-RDORCENT HEXfiGONS GO 
||8g^pllN?^“'0NE OP THESE IN TUR 
9665'PRINT -EXPLODE RND R CHRIN 

IlirilbN? ;;°^^Pr| 3E NEU LINE TO 
9igg'’'W°INKEYS = "- then GOTO GSOa 
Pll ifelNT ■• HOU.EOER IF XOO ^ TRR 

T^B RggCTlONj^ the SOUflRH^ INTO 
9705 PRXNT HUL- 

gy^l^'pRINT "YOU EXPLODE BECOME • 
ig?|-PRINT :: VOU UIN WHEN YOUR U 

Pll^ibSf ^blYll-ONE-S PIE 

'iS| «?|iNT°"RS NORMfiL NUMBERS.. W 
3ikl ^b?Nr"TUO-S PIECES RRE IN 

pifEllST '.'r'-'^iRESS NEW LINE TO 

iRRRY^ON)" ... then goto STHE 

Q7S6 XF inkey^ 

CE5 

I 73 O RETURN 


















































Open 
8.30-6pm 
Mon to Fri 
& 9.00-1 pm 
Sat 

Closed on Satur¬ 
days preceding Bank 
Holidays 


Prices correct at time of going to press E&OE 
All offers subject to availability 


6, London ■ 
Bridge Walk _ 
London SE1 ■ 

Tel: H 

01- 403 1988 I 


Software for the ZX Spectrum 


S.R.P. OUR PRICE 
Missile Defence £5.95 £3 *00 
All ASP Software£6.50 £ 4«00 
StarTrek 3000 £5.95 £ 3.00 
Home Accounts £19.95 £ 12.95 
Stock Control £19.95 £ 12.95 
£19.95 £ 12.95 
£19.95 £ 12.95 
£19.95 £ 12.95 
£5.50 £ 3.00 

£ 3.00 


Database 

Mailist 

Easiledger 

Pedro 

3D Haunted 
Hedges 
Use & learn 


£6.95 


£9.95 £ 6.95 



S.R.P. 

OUR PRICE 

Knot in 3D 

£5.95 

£ 3.00 

3D Tunnel 

£5.95 

£ 3.00 

Rabbit Shoot 

£5.95 

£ 3.00 

Nowotnik Puzzle£5.95 

£ 3.00 

Chequered Flag £6.95 

£ 4.00 

Lazer Zone 

£6.95 

£ 3.00 

Traxx 

£6.95 

£ 3.00 

French Vocab 

£6.95 

£ 4.00 

Young Learner 

£6.95 

£ 4.00 

Astro-maths 

£7.95 

£ 4.00 

Star Reader 

£7.95 

£ 4.00 

Chemistry 

£7.95 

£ 4.00 


Software for the Dragon 


Transylvanian 

Tower 

UGH! 


S.R.P. OUR PRICE S.R.P. OUR PRICE 

£6.95 £ 3.00 Trace Race £6.95 £ 3.00 
QQ St George/Dragon£6.95 £ 3.00 


Software for the oric 


S.R.P. OUR PRICE 

Harrier Attack £6.95 £ 4*00 Starfighter 


S.R.P. OUR PRICE 

£6.95 £ 4.00 


Software for the BBC ^ 

.. 


S.R.P. OUR PRICE 

Dictator £6.95.£4.00 


Soft ware. 
Daft prices. 


■ 

■ 


If you see these prices anywhere else don’t tell us, tell the Police! |[ 

~ i 

All mail order & phone enquiries to 6 London Bridge Walk 403 1988 | 

Name. IjH 

Address. H 

.BKpCT/84 ■ 

ORDER POST F RE E ! I 




Access, Visa, Trustcard & 
Creditcharge orders can be 
accepted by post or by tele¬ 
phone on 01 -403 1988, 01 • 
407 6833, during normal 
working hours. There is no 
surcharge on any credit card 
orders. 

ALL MAIL ORDERS to 
6 London Bridge Walk, 
London SE1 2SX 



VP TO 

C1000 


Up to £1000 Instant Credit 
available to callers who hold a 
current Clearing Bank Ban¬ 
kers Card or Credit Card for 
identification. Mail Order cus¬ 
tomers can apply for a Budget 
Account Card - please 
send for application form. 




































































0 






"r£^:- 




the next step 


IT WAS while Clive the Dorkslayer was 
checking out the fabled Chalice ofChalknor 
that the Basilisk came out of its cave, and 
smelling fresh blood, charged, 

Clive the Dorkslayer, half-elf, half-man, 
stood up in alarm as the scaly beast made its 
clumsy, scurrying rush. Should be use the 
Axe Logslayer or the Sword Nerd slayer? Or 
the silver, enchanted knife Foodslayer? Or 
should he trust in the powers of the magic 
helmetHairslayer?Oughthe,perhaps, to 
check over his stamina points before 
engaging the animal in no-holds-barred 
combat? Might he not profit—even at this 
late stage—by a quick suss of his leather 


pack*s contents? 

Of course it might be that his best option 
would be to run for it. 

At the penultimate instant before a ton of 
infuriated horn and bone landed on him, 
Clive the Dorkslayer decided that his 
strength was a little on the low side; he had 
actually half-unwrapped the cheese and 
onion sandwich before the behemoth, true 
to its fearsome reputation, had pounded him 
to a pale pink jelly. 

Disgusted, Clive hauled the plug out of the 
back of his Spectrum, switched off the grimy 
Anglepoise lamp that illuminated his work 
area, and went to bed. 



□VENTURE 
GAMES have 
traditionally 
taken fearless 
and outgoing 
individualists 
like Clive on 
voyages of dis¬ 
covery and sudden death 
through an a^ntique land peo¬ 
pled by creatures from Grimms 
Brothers tales. There is almost 
always a Quest to achieve — 
often, an object or objects of 
value to be acquired, some¬ 
times a useful magic word to be 
learned — and gripping adven¬ 
tures can take several months, 
of not longer, to complete with¬ 
out resort to Help. 

However almost any Boys' 
Own situation is, by its nature, 
tailor-made for the computer 
adventure format — this being 
generally defined as the kind of 
game where you achieve re¬ 
sults, not by waggling a joystick 
in real-time, but by typing In 
words and phrases which, if 
understood by the game's built- 
in sentence parser, can be 
translated by the software into 
a result, a movement, a gain, 
perhaps a sudden demise. Here 
lies their attraction — this con¬ 
stant puzzle of trying to learn or 
guess what words are actually 


in the vocabulary, and then em¬ 
ploying them at the right time, 
under the right circumstances. 
In the right combination and 
often In the right order (of 
events). Success at this means 
success at the adventure and 
the fulfilment of the Quest . .. 
and the hunt for a new game to 
buy. 

These days the definition has 
become blurred, as both old 
and new techniques are applied 
in an attempt to broaden the 
technical definition and make 
the process more user-friendly 
and thus accessible to more 
people. Not all of us like 
crossword-like activity In the 
middle of the night ("Try KILL 
BQQT, fer Pete's sake, and let's 
get some kip!"). Not all of us are 
verbally facile. Not all of us 
have patience; and not all of us 
are loners — you need to have a 
taste for the latter to be a full- 
hearted adventure nut. So 
these days we have mainframe 
adventures playable by dozens 
of people at a time (none of 
whom knew each other); 
multiple-choice "adventures" 
like The Lords Qf Midnight; 
multiple-player adventures like 
Empires; and to please the 
optically-inclined we of course 
have graphic adventures like 


The Hobbit and independent- 
life real-time graphic adven¬ 
tures like Valhalla. 

Themes have changed, too. 
The sword 'n sorcery motif still 
rules, though no longer unchal¬ 
lenged. You can be inside a 
giant deserted alien spacecraft, 
at an Agatha Christie country 
house murder, aboard a 
doomed cruise ship, or trying to 
get out of Cricklewood. You can 
move through political circles 
or "attain" Hampstead. 

There is very little left of "real 
life" that isn't already In the 
adventure planning sage. 

At the same time, one of 
Adventure's parent roots — 
Dungeons and Dragons role 
playing games — is moving to¬ 
wards the new common core — 
with the new generation of 
adventure paperbacks, with or 
without attached computer 
games. Interactive literature is 
already a reality. The first of ail 
computer games is still — for 
many — the best, the most en¬ 
during and the one with the 
greatest continued potential. 

So even if you're an arcade 
nut with a habit that craves 
blood . .. read on. You may not 
get much joystick action but 
you'll discover all the gore you 
could possibly want... 

















































rocks); the cheerful proprietor of 
The Bog - 


T HAPPENED on 

3 liirfj ^ crtiteei 
‘^ghfehmg.df thd^ 
S^®itet(:^pmg out a poc^J 

^®^@|t;fO!;be.3jgWnTTm • 

^^^iifeiy'VFsage had finally 
“crumpled with pleasure. I'd 
stumbled upon one of those rare 
delights, a genuinely funny 
adventure. The thing was called 
Spoof, for the 48K Spectrum 
from Runesoft. I cackled hide¬ 
ously long into the night. 

Spoof is a standard format text 
prog that parodies all those now 
familiar sword 'n' sorcery cliches. 
Anyone with a fondness for the 
genre can't help but raise a smile 
as they wander past rotting 
wooden signposts proclaiming, 
The Obligatory Mnuntian' ar yab 
The Necessary ForesT^|^mB 
the guise of 
one), 


Dungeons 

BWn55gons adventure," says 
Slack, "and thought that the 
whole genre could do with a 
send-up. We bounced some 
ideas around and decided on 
Spoof. Spoof the magic dragon! 
It sounded about right. I think it's 
a good idea to have a bit of var¬ 
iety on the adventure scene. 
There's plenty of room for par¬ 
ody." 


takes 

trudge across The 
Obligatory Mountain'. Imagine a 
telephone. It starts to ring . . . 

Keaton: Um. Answer 'phone. 

Spoof: "Hallo. Is that Dave?" 

Keaton: "Um. No. 

Spoof: "Can you get him for 
me? He'll probably be down on 
the beach. Shout him for me will 
you?" 

Keaton: Um. Shout Dave. 

Spoof: As I shout I see a figure 
on the beach. It waves to me and 
disappears into the cliff b^^ 
Moments later he 
cliff-top singiiyi^^^^^^HH 
g e r s 


^^^^P^^nd of the Owl and 
^^^Tussycat routine. "That 
^ole section on the barge is 
really funny," he says. "I also 
like the double endings." He goes 
on to explain in detail and I sud¬ 
denly realise that what I thought 
was an odd bug in the program 
is in factall partof the joke! Slack 
and Stevenson are so pleased 
with the character of Yaw that 
he's slated to return at a later 
date. I for one will be waiting. 


^^Te says 
7s down the 


P^BB^m. Follow Dave . . . 
^PWs quality of interaction is 
maintained throughout the 
game. Beautifully observed and 
precisely anticipated it's a real 
pleasure to play. Apparently 


Free:1000O 


THE ALREADY obese Spectrum 
adventure market seems set to 
swell some more with the arrival 
of a neat new game generator 
from Dream Software. Like Gil- 
soft's highly rated Quill system 
The Dungeon Builder enables 
you to write your own machine- 
code adventures without any 
previous programming know- 


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differs sharply in 
designed to accommo- 
4-coloiir graphics. Author 
Richard Parratt tells me that this 
has caused other publishing 
houses to show considerable 
interest. In fact (I'm told) Artie 
like the system so much they're 
using it to write their next batch 
of adventures. 

Parratt based TDB on an ear¬ 
lier text interpreter written for a 
mainframe. It took approxi¬ 
mately four months to comlete 
and as you might expect it's 
menu-driven. An Outer Menu 
leads to an Edge Editing Menu, 
where you can define your map, 
and this in turn leads to Centre 
Editing Menu and Object Editing 
Menu, where you can script the 
locations and place the objects. 
Three final menus. Verb, Posi¬ 
tion and Command then allow 
you to implementthe machinery 
necesary to make your piece 
work. 

Status 

The main screen display is 
exceptionally clear. At the top is 
a status line indicating the 
amount of memory free for the 
game. Early issues of TDB 
offered around 10K of usable 
memory but mark 2 versions, 
identifiable by a fancy loading- 
screen, boast a more healthy 
13.5K.'Be sure to check before 
you buy. Below this is a lattice of 
octagonal cells which corre¬ 
spond to the directions N, NE, 
SE, S, SW, W, and NW. This is 
your map. You've a total of 1600 
cells to play with and breaking 
the links between them creates 
adjoining locations. The accom¬ 
panying manual takes you 
through the process step by step. 

Below the grid is the Design 


Menu which can be accessed 
using a key letter. Hit 'O' for open 
on the Edge Editing Menu, 
frinstance, and you'll be able to 
bulldoze a path between the cells 
with your cursor. Hit 'D' for 
describe and you'll be able to 
type in a description for the cell 
your cursor happens to occupy 
at the time. Curiously you're only 
permitted to enter one upper 
case letter per sentence. This is 
due to TDB's byte compression 
system. A worthwhile idiosyn- 
crazy. Less tolerable though is 
the screen full of garbage that 
results from including a ques¬ 
tion mark in your descriptive text. 
When told of this elephantine 
bug the guys at Dream were 
suitably apologetic and prom¬ 
ised to hold onto stocks until it 
had been exorcised. Owners of 
bugged Builders are advised to 
return to their cassettes (but not 
the expensive packaging) for 
replacement. 

Having laid and scripted the 
game you're then required to 
establish conditions and conse¬ 
quences. This involves a modi¬ 
cum of intelligence and so 
temporarily baffled your hum¬ 
ble scribe. An altogether inordi¬ 
nate amount of time was spent 
putting a door in one of the cell 
walls! I could open the blamed 
thing all right, but not close it^' I 
never did find out what it was I 
was doing wrong. 

Graphics 

Adding the graphics is less 
confusing. You just punch the 'P' 
option on the Centre Editing 
Menu, select a background 
colour and manipulate the 
drawing cursors with yourtrusty 
cursor keys. Instant master¬ 
piece! 


Your adventure is then com¬ 
pleted by loading the saved 
database into the 'Make' utility 
on the cassette's flip-side. The 
thing gulps down the info, swills 
it around and regorges it as a 
genuine stand-alone adventure. 
Unfortunately it comes com¬ 
plete with a truly hideous load¬ 
ing screen that proclaims in bold 
type that the game was created 
on 'The Dungeon Builder'. It even 
gives Dream's full address! 
Decidedly OTT. I putthis gripe to 
Richard Parratt who was under¬ 
standably defensive. "It's all part 
of the protection device," he said, 
"although we would be quite 
happy to remove it if we could 
come to some sort of arrange¬ 
ment for an alternative credit." 

Hmmph. Perhapssomeofyou 
wizard readers know of a faster 
solution? This and the question 
mark bug apart I found the whole 
system very impressive. 
Response time on the finished 
product is perhaps a bit sluggish 
but the graphics facility more 
than compensates. It also helps 
you avoid the factory-farming 
effect of The Quill. A microdrive 
version and users club are 
promised soon. 

OF COURSE some of you lot 
might actually prefer to write an 


Adventure the traditional way, 
with honest-to-goodness code. 
None of these nancy-boy gener¬ 
ators for you! If such is the case 
then you'll probably be looking 
for a book to help you on your 
way. In which case the choice is 
dazzling! A plethora of softbacks 
litter the stands and all promise 
wonders beyond belief. Unfor¬ 
tunately most fail to deliver. 

An exception is the rather 
poorly titled Invent And Write 
Games For The Spectrum writ¬ 
ten by Noel Williams and pub¬ 
lished by McGraw-Hill at £6.95. 
Although you'd be forgiven for 
passing over it (whoever thought 
of the monicker should be put to 
the blade) William's book is 
something of a gem. Everything 
you'll need to know is here and 
it's written with immense 
humour. Something of a rarity. 
The book contains history, help 
and two BASIC listings which 
once used can be easily canni¬ 
balised. 

All in all a great read for DIY 
Dorkslayers. 

FAX: 

SPOOF (Runesoft) 48K Spec¬ 
trum £7.50 

THE DUNGEON BUILDER 
(Dream Software) 48K Spec¬ 
trum £9.95 


ARE YOU LONELY? 

An adventurer's life can be a solitary one. All those 
late nights/early mornings spent on fruitless quests 
in fabled realms. Fear not, gentle wanderer, for you 
have a friend in BIG K. We want to hear your troubles 
and help you if we can — even if you're a smarty 
pants who thinks he knows it all. Send your adven¬ 
ture hints, tips and pleas for help to us and get the 
warmth of Dorkslayer around you. 























RE ADVENTURE ADVENTURE ADVEN 


boration. I'm lopking forward to 
writing for the Commodore ver¬ 
sion." But Joe doesn't program 
himself. J.one Wolf is being 
translated for him. 

Joe has a passion for military 
history, was an David board- 
games man and collected lead 
soldiers for years. This drew him 
fo Lohddn's Games Centre, a 
branch of which he managed for 
two years. It was during a busi¬ 
ness trip to Los Angeles that he 
encountered D&D. "One game 
and I was hooked." He finally 
^ won the championships in LA 
* — a week long marathon. 

Joe was the only Brit there. 

"There was no disadvan¬ 
tage," he says. "Every 
competitor has to take on 
all character classes; fighter, 
cleric, wizard and thief." Joe's 
favoured role is that of Dungeon 
Master. "It's an art —you've got 
to get the balance of the game 
just right. Neither too hard nor 
too easy." 

Lone Wolf heralds a great 
drawing together of the clans. A 
decade or so ago, something 
was stirring amongst the idle 
young of America's college 
campuses. It was an ongoing 
Dungeoning an3 Dragoning 
situation. It spread. In such a big 
way that the ex-Wisconsin post¬ 
man Gary Gygax, first to docu¬ 
ment D&D by creating its two 
rule books, for Masters and play¬ 
ers, declared a staggering $52 
million profit in 1982, making 
D&D the sixth fastest growing 
Industry in the USA! 

And from the East came the 
quiet literary genius of Professor 
Tolkien. His fertile imagination 
met that of thousands of others 
somewhere in Middle-Earth — a 
land created privately for his son. 

Then there was computer 
adventure. Even prehistoric 
mainframes found themselves 
harbingers of adventuring data, 
as furtive, hard-bitten program¬ 
mers eked out available K's in 
down-time. But it's with the mic¬ 
ro that adventure is coming into 
its own. 

We'll keep you informed of 
happenings. Watch out for news 
of Lone Wolf. And expect some 
surprises. 


over seven years of Dungeons & 
Dragons exploits. It was a during 
particularly primal D&D session 
that Magnamund was con¬ 
ceived. "I was bringing together 
amorphous gassy formations; 
great, floating worlds of ice . .. 
and other strange phenomena" 
(he wouldn't part with the exact 
recipe) — "and POW! Worlds 
combusted into being!" And 
Joe had created Magnamund. 
And he saw that it was good. 

Joe's youthful, ethereal looks 
belie his maturity. His low-key 
self-assuredness kind of sneaks 
around the back and hits you. 

Joe, 28, set out on life's rich 
path as a musician. He moved 
over from double-bass to elec¬ 
tric bass and worked with a lot of 
bands including Mike Oldfield, 
"I enjoyed it all at first." Then he 
found himself hired out to ses¬ 
sions with the punk bands of 
1977-8. 

"Suddenly, music was about 
anything but virtuosity. You had 
to dress the right way and share 
the same political pretensions." 
The era compounded a growing 
disillusionment, and Joe quit. 
He's recently written music for 
Flight from the Dark. "The Spec¬ 
trum didn't allow for much ela¬ 


detailed and complex as an old 
manuscript with a graphics win¬ 
dow and text area below. You 
choose from the courses of ac¬ 
tion scrolled in the lower half of 
the screen, and the characters 
animate themselves according¬ 
ly. The graphics are excellent, 
and the adventure pushes the 
Spectrum's 48K to the limits. 

In the game you are Wolf, kin 
to the Kai Lords. One day the sky 
is darkened by the sickening, 
leathery-winged Darklords. 
When they leave, you find your¬ 
self the sole survivor of your 
ancient race — Lone Wolf. 

Our hero is about 15 years old 
In Flight from the Dark. He grows 
older and wiser through the epi¬ 
sodes. Later he will acquire the 
skill of Dimensionality; the abil¬ 
ity to travel through time and 
space. He'll need all the skill he 
can get for the final conflict. 
Lone Wolf's vow of the revenge 
starts him on a quest that will 
take him all the way through the 
world of Magnamund. 

Lone Wolf has been ferment¬ 
ing in the mind of Joe Dever 


JOE DEVER, 1982's World 
Dungeons & Dragons Cham¬ 
pion, has hit the Software Road. 
His Flight from the Dark and Fire 
on the Water began life as role- 
playing adventure books, and 
now meet their electronic foils 
— text adventures with graphic 
illustrations. The two titles com¬ 
prise the first sixth of a mam¬ 
moth adventure series, Lone 
Wolf. Each of the twelve epi¬ 
sodes, published by Hutch- 
insons, will tie-in with an adven¬ 
ture book of the same name. 
Both can be played as self- 
contained units but rabid 
gamesters will be pleased to 
find it possible to cross- 
reference between the two for a 
really comprehensive game. In¬ 
itially for Spectrum, the series is 
being translated for the Com¬ 
modore 64, and, notably, will be 
among the first available for the 
QL. 

BIG K was chosen to be the 
very first magazine to play Flight 
from the Dark. Each screen is as 


I 

















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Group 


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GAME^ 

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The computer gome 

is NAD... 

























































No, not that dreary brown 
Stuff — this M.U.D. stands 
for "Multl-Usor Dungeon", 
and Is 0' mSttimoth-scale 
Adventure run on Essex Uni¬ 
versity's DEC PDP-11 ... 
with a little help from a few 
hundred puntws (one as far 
away as Ji^an). DAVID 
MACHIN's been going on¬ 
line for a while now. Here's 
his report... 

WELL, IT had to happen, didn't 
it? Just when everyone thought 
that adventure games had final¬ 
ly reached a polfit where no¬ 
thing else could happen, some¬ 
thing did. Just as Matthew 
Smith thought that he had found 
the last Manic gold mine, along 
came MUD, as evil-smelling as 
ever, and, to guote from Mr 
Adventure himSelf, it really hits 
the spotl 

No, the bugs haven't man¬ 
aged to mangle my memory 
map. Yet What I am talking 
about is MUD, which stands for 
Multi-User Dungeons & Dra¬ 
gons. "Oh, not D & D again . . . 
old hat!" I hear you all cry. 
Maybe, But that isn't what 
makes this game special. The 
special bit is that you play this 
adventure over the phone using 
a modem, on a program around 
2 megabytes long, and YOU ARE 
NOT ALONE! Indeed, around 36 
other hackers can play the same 
game at the same time that you 
are ... literally. That is to say, if 
you want the torch at the same 
time as old Elric over there, 
you'll either have to beat him to 
it, or fight over it! To play the 
game you need a suitable scroll¬ 
ing dumb terminal, preferably 
80 column (e.g. a BBC Micro 
with a dumb terminal program), 
a 1200 baud modem, and an 
account with British Telecom's 
Packet Switch Stream, of which 
more later. 

The computer that the pro¬ 
gram runs on is a rather large (if 
old) DEC 10, legated at Essex 
University, As y#u can imagine, 
a lot of the students have better 
things to do than simply play 
MUD all day (tha6s their story!), 
and if ail the ports were occu¬ 
pied by manic fnud-wallowers 
while the amiable academics 
were working on wonder- 
projects, they v^K)uld begin to 
gibber over their patriarchal. 


MUD, MUD 
GLORIOUS 
MUD... 


coffee-stained keyboards. For 
this reason, the MUD program 
can only be activated between 
midnight and six o'clock in the 
morning. This keeps the noctur¬ 
nal MUD-slingers away from the 
students, and so everybody's 
happy (till the hackers start mes¬ 
sing around, and snaffling pass¬ 
words!). 

Once you have managed to 
log on to the system (and that 
would make quite a good adven¬ 
ture game in itself!), you are 
askedto enterthe namethatyou 
wish to be called in MUD. This is 
rather like a CB 'handle', and can 
be anything from 'Fred' to 'Bil¬ 
bo'. You are then asked what sex 
you are, and, if the computer 
doesn't recognise the name that 
you have entered as someone 
who has played before, it asks 
you to donate a password for 
your character, so that other 
MUD hackers can't use your per¬ 
sona. 

Once you have told the com¬ 
puter who you are, typing WFIO 
gives you a list of all the people 
who are currently logged on to 
the system. You can follow any¬ 
one who is at the same location 
as you, attempt to kill them, and 
also talk to them, and I found this 
probably the most interesting 
part of the game, you can use 
the command SFIOUT, followed 
by a message, and everyone in 
the adventure will be informed 
of what you say. Flowever, they 
don't know who said it, only 
your sex. For example, if you 
typed SHOUT HELLO THERE!! 
the words "A male voice shouts 
'HELLO THERE' " would appear 
on everyone's screen, no matter 
what they are doing at that par¬ 
ticular time. Their screen just 
scrolls, and the message pops 
up. You can communicate pri¬ 
vately with someone by simply 


Harry Carpenter to shame. 

The descriptions of the loca¬ 
tions on the game are extremely 
lengthy. Having the power of a 
mainframe to play an adventure 
certainly makes a difference. 
You can switch to a smaller de¬ 
scription if you are more experi¬ 
enced, by using the command 
BRIEF. Typing SCORE tells you 
not only how many points you 
have got, but also how much ex¬ 
perience you have, using have 
ratings which range from 
novice, the bottom level, up to 
Wizard, of which (witch?!) there 


saying the person's name, fol¬ 
lowed by a message. For exam¬ 
ple, 'SAMANTHA, ARE YOUR 
PERIPHERALS COMPATIBLE 
WITH MINE?' would inform 
Samantha that someone is 
trying to interface with her. 
(Draw your own conclusions.) 
Then if you wantto tell everyone 
at a certain location something, 
you simply use a quote, eg: 
'HELLO EVERYBODY' would 
send your greeting to everyone 
at the same location as yourself. 

Of course, you can also play 
the adventure, but you can easi¬ 
ly find yourself doing nothing 
else but talk to people all night. 
When I have been playing, I have 
spoken to people all over the 
country, from all walks of life, 
and using all sorts of micros. 
The type of computer that the 
people are using does not mat¬ 
ter. The couple of nights that I 
was on, I spoke to people using 
Spectrums, BBCs, Apples, a 
Commodore 64, and even some¬ 
one with not one, but THREE 
QLs!! (None of them worked.) 

The fights on MUD have to be 
seen to be believed. I don't know 
quite how the program works it 
all out, but the running com¬ 
mentaries that are given put 


were two when I played. The 
system is incredibly user friend¬ 
ly, and it has a very large HELP 
file, which will tell the user all he 
wants to know about playing the 
game . . . apart from how to 
solve it. 

To play the game, you need a 
suitableterminal, and a modem. 
You also require an account with 
British Telecom's Packet Switch 
Stream. This is far too complex 
to explain here, and would really 
warrant an article in itself, but 
the general idea is that you can 
contact the Essex computer us¬ 
ing special data lines, specifical¬ 
ly designed for the transmission 
of data, not voices. However, 
you access these lines using a 
normal phone, and normally at 
local rates. You also have to pay 
around £6.00 a quarter for the 
use of the PSS system. For more 
details ring PSS on 01-920-0661. 

I don't think that "normal" 
adventure games will ever be 
quite the same again. When you 
put donw your phone, and re¬ 
load your adventure disc menu, 
you can't really decide which 
one to play any more. They have 
all suddenly lost their appeal. 
With only one person playing, 
things just aren't the same! 

























r 


MEGASAVE FANTASTIC 
SAVINGS 


SPECTRUM 

SABRE WULF.8.25 

PSYTRON.6.30 

MUGSY.5.95 

JACKS BEANSTALK.4.95 

FIGHTER PILOT.6.25 

TORNADO LOW LEVEL . . . 4.75 

HULK.8.50 

LORDS OF MIDNIGHT. . . . 8.50 

KOSMICKANGA.5.10 

JET SET WILLY.4.75 

BEAKY.4.85 

AD ASTRA.4.95 

NIGHT GUNNER.5.50 

FOOTBALL MANAGER . . . 5.55 

TRASHMAN.4.75 

MOON ALERT.4.90 

ANTICS.5.75 

WARS OF THE WORLD . . . 6.75 

LES FLICS.5.50 

CAVELON.4.95 

MICRO OLYMPICS.4.95 

DOOMSDAY CASTLE .... 5.30 

DEATHCHASE.5.25 

HARRIER AHACK.4.95 

SCUBA DIVE.4.75 

WHEELIE.4.95 

CAVERN FIGHTER.4.95 

TRIBBLE TRUBBLE.4.95 

GLUGGLUG.4.75 

3D TANK DUEL.4.95 

KRAKATOA.4.75 

DEFENDA.4.75 

FRED.5.90 

ODANTAHACK.5.90 

BUGABOO.5.90 

SNOWMAN.5.90 

VALHALLA.11.50 

MESS FROM ANDROMEDA. 4.75 

MATCH POINT.6.85 

LORD OF TIME.8.50 


SPECTRUM 

ATICATAC.4.75 

AUTOMANIA.5.75 

BLUE THUNDER.4.75 

CODE NAME MAT.5.20 

MILLIONAIRE.4.50 

STOP THE EXPRESS .... 5.00 

SINK THE TITANIC.6.75 

COSMIC CRUISER.4.25 

WORLD CUP F'BALL .... 5.95 
WORSE THINGS H’P’N AT SEA 4.95 

QUILL.10.75 

WHITE LIGHTNING.12.50 

BLADE ALLEY.4.75 

SDLUNAAHACK.4.75 

CAESAR THE CAT.5.95 

PYRAMID.4.95 

ANDROID II.4.75 

AUFWIEDERSEHENPET. . 4.95 

STARBLITZ.5.85 

FACTORY BREAKOUT . . . 4.95 
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL. . . 8.50 

HOBBIT.11.50 

FANTASIA DIAMOND .... 6.25 

FULLTHROHLE.5.95 

ORCAHACK.6.10 

TOWER OF EVIL.6.10 

DECATHALON (DALEYS) . . 5.85 

HEATHROW A.T.C.6.85 

OLYMPICON.5.85 

RAPSCALLION.5.85 

STAR TRADER.5.85 

BEACHHEAD.6.95 

BBC 

FRAK.7.75 

MRWIZ.6.85 

ZALAGA.7.75 

STAR STRIKER.6.85 

GISBURNES CASTLE .... 6.85 

THE COUNT.6.85 

PRAMIDOFDOOM.6.85 


FREE POST 


PLEASE STATE WHICH MICRO 
SEND CHEQUE/P.O. TO: 


FAST SERVICE 


1 


COMMODORE 

SONOFBLAGGER.6.50 

BEACHHEAD.8.50 

VALHALLA.11.50 

QUILL.11.50 

GYROPOD.5.50 

LOCO.6.50 

ARABIAN KNIGHTS.5.85 

SOLO FLIGHT.12.50 

BOZO’S NIGHT OUT.5.50 

CAVELON.5.55 

ENCOUNTER.8.75 

HOUSE OF USHER.5.85 

FOOTBALL MANAGER . . . 6.95 

AUTOMANIA.6.85 

FELIX IN THE FACTORY. . . 6.85 

ALL£7INTERCEPTOR. . . . 5.85 

ALL £7.95 ANIROG.6.30 

TRASHMAN.6.85 

WIMBLEDON.6.85 

JACKS THE BEANSTALK . . 5.85 

ANDROID II.5.90 

WHEELIN WALLY.5.85 

FLIGHTPATH737 . 6.30 

THE EVIL DEAD.5.85 

GILLIGANSGOLD.5.75 

AZTEC CHALLENGE .... 7.50 

FORBIDDEN FOREST. . . . 7.50 

HEATHROW A.T.C.6.85 

CYBERTRON MISSION . . . 6.85 

SWOOP.6.85 

GHOULS.6.85 

POTTY PIGEON.6.85 

STRIP POKER.8.50 

MONTY MOLE.6.85 

FLIP FLOP.7.75 

ASTRO CHASE.7.75 

DECATHALON (DALEYS) . . 6.85 

JET SET WILLY.6.85 

DANGER MOUSE.6.85 

MYSTIC MASION.7.75 


MEGASAVE 
Dept K, 76 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 


Great news for Spectrum users! Now you 
can easily make superb graphic 
adventures for your friends and special 
occasions! 



YOU can make a game quickly and easily - AND 
THAT’S A PROMISE! All you need is The 
Dungeon Builder from Dream Software. 

It’s perfect for complete beginners as no programming knowledge is 
needed at all. It’s perfect for experts because you will save a lot of time. 
Everyone has fun. 

It’s true — now it’s really simple to produce a full colour graphic adventure 
for your friends, your parents, your children — anyone. Great for parties 
— your adventure will include your guests! 

The program runs on your 48k Spectrum. It’s available from Boots and lots 
of computer shops. It’s easy to order by post if you want to: just clip the 
coupon and send us your cheque, P.O., or access number for 9.95 plus45p 
p&p and we’ll send you the program first class by return. We give a no¬ 
quibble guarantee that the program will load; we replace immediately if you 
have problems. 

Dear Dream, Please send me “The Dur^on Builder” by first class return post. I’m 

I happy to order by post because you GUARANTEE to replace the program if it ■ 
doesn’t load when I get it. I enclose payment for 9.95 (plus 45p p&p) | 

I Name _ 

I Address 

I (Bkl) 


_ I 

I 

I 

K yv/wi I ivy . 

I^Dept BKl, Dream Software Ltd, P.O. Box 64, Basingstoke, RG21 2LB. | 


Post your coupon to 



250K of pure mystery. Be the first to know. 

Send your name and address to:Eureka!,228 Munster Road, London SW6 6AZ 













































































































































shine's 42, with another 
volume to come. But this may 
bean unfairway of looking at 
it. Gerrard spells everything 
out slowly and carefully, 
while Bridge assumes the 
reader can keep up. 

What all the above have in 
common is an inordinate 
amount of padding, duplica¬ 
tion and downright waffling 
— both Duckworth and Sun¬ 
shine could use a good edi¬ 
tor. By far the best writer of 
the adventure game crowd is 
Mike Gerrard, so it's a pity he 
doesn't have a proper book 
of his own. His THE ADVEN¬ 
TURER'S NOTEBOOK (£3.95) 
is a playing aid, and a good 
one. The bulk of it is pages of 
ready-made skeleton maps 
and pages for entering loca¬ 
tions, objects found, actions 
tried and results, recognised 
words and general notes. The 
idea is to do away with that 
awful mess of bits of paper, 
covered in scrawls, cryptic 
notes and crossings out, 
incomprehensible even to 
their maker (you, sunshine) 
and collect them all into one 
convenient package. I love the 
idea and up to a point it works 
very well, but it would have 
been even better in a ring 
binder rather than spiral 
bound. Gerrard's introduc¬ 
tion which is a great read, 
covers hints, history, recom¬ 
mended adventures (by 
machine), useful addresses 
and synonyms- 

The Brothers Gerrard col¬ 
laborated on THE ADVEN¬ 
TURER'S COMPANION 
(£3.95) which is a real bone 
of contention. This one is very 
straightforward — solutions, 
not hints, not suggestions, 
not clues, but 100%, full-fron¬ 
tal, explicit solutions to the 
problems of The Hobbit, 
Colossal Cave Adventure 
(a.k.a Adventure, a.k.a 
Adventures, a.k.a Colossal 
Cave), Adventureland and 
Pirate Adventure. Anybody 
who's solved any of these 
games the hard way would 
be justified in being pretty 
irritated by the idea of just 
looking up the answer, but 
the many people who've got 
themselves stuck in one will 
find it a godsend. Trouble is 
that to get the best value out 
of these games you'd have to 
use this book only as a last 
resort, which is asking for 
superhuman self-restraint. 
Personally I would have pre¬ 
ferred a collection of hints, 
along the lines of Level 9's 
foxy but invaluable clue 
sheets, which help you with¬ 
out giving everything away, 
for a much wider range of 
games. 


Boohs Do 


Furnish A CauK 


There are books, com¬ 
puter books and — 
increasingly — computer 
adventure books. JOHN 
CONQUEST put on his 
lorgnettes and had a good 
squint at some latest 
examples of this rapidly- 
growing literary genre. 

ITH EVERY 
publisher in 
the world 
trying to 
jump on the 
computer 
bandwagon 
(I know, but 
you try telling them), it's a bit 
odd that adventure gaming 
(books for) is, for the time 
being anyway, monopolised 
by just two, Duckworth and 
Sunshine. Duckworth, small 
long-established company, 
field the Gerrard brothers, 
Mike and Peter; while com¬ 
puter book specialists Sun¬ 
shine's team is the editiorial 
staff of Micro Adventurer 
magazine. 

Peter Gerrard, author of 
Romik's adventure games 
Fool's Gold and Tomb of 
Xeiops, is a man for all 
machines, though his 
speciality is the Commodore 
64. His EXPLORING ADVEN¬ 
TURES series, at £6.95 each 
(for some reason most com¬ 
puter books are £6.95), cover 
the 64, Atari, Spectrum, 
Dragon, BBC (revised Big K 
issue 5), Oric, Electron and 
VIC, with Amstrad on the way. 
All the volumes share a com¬ 
mon framework and indeed 
a couple of identical chapters 
on adventure games in gen¬ 
eral, and all have listings for 
the same three games (also 
available on cassette at 
£7.95). The meat of the books, 
however, is the detailed 
examination of inputting 
information, room mapping, 
vocabulary, routines and so 
on, which are clear and spe¬ 
cific. 

The FURTHER ADVEN¬ 
TURES series (snappy title, 
eh?), due this autumn for 64, 
Spectrum, Electron and 
Dragon, will cover graphics, 
machine code, role playing 
and multi-player game pro¬ 
gramming with examples 


that will, again, be available 
on cassette. 

Along similar lines. Sun¬ 
shine's offerings are SPEC¬ 
TRUM ADVENTURES by 
Tony Bridge & Roy Carnell, 
COMMODORE ADVEN¬ 
TURES by Mike Grace, and 
ATARI ADVENTURES by 
Tony Bridge, all sub-titled "A 
guide to playing and writing 
adventures" and £5.95 each 
(some mistake, surely?). The 
first (playing) half has a very 
high flannel content and, in 
the Atari book, you can 
almost hear Bridge's sigh of 


relief as he opens the second 
half with "Now at last we're 
getting down to some seri¬ 
ous programming!" Not the 
most fluent writer in the 
world. Bridge is on much 
firmer ground when he gets 
J down to the nuts and bolts of 
;; creating dungeons, mons- 
5 ters, combat systems, graph- 
i ics, movement and menus. 

If you're looking at the 
choice between Atari, 64 or 
i: Spectrum books, Duck- 

i worth'scertainly spend more 
^ time on the actual program- 
ming, 167 pages to Sun¬ 




































He nee dSiiQ allies. ^ 

and agility will of 

'Storm' 


storm Warrior is a 12 screen, all machine code, fast moving graphics adventure 
using 58K of RAM. It features 5 levels of play, full playing demo mode and a 

fast loading system. 


Available on tape at £7.95 and DISK at £9.95 

COMMODORE 64 


Meet the Challenge 














you 

own 


snea 

him 


a pai 
recta 
to d( 

















ines show no mercy 



Acornsoft have now unleashed eight more mer¬ 
ciless games onto unsuspecting BBC micro owners. 

Ranging from ‘Gateway to Karos^ where putting 
a foot wrong could mean instant death. To the relentless 
antics of Drogna which could have you dying with 
laughter. 

Gateway to Karos. 

An adventure game in which you’ll need all 
your patience and ingenuity just to stay alive. Your 
objective is to find the Talisman of Khoronz hut, 
whichever path you choose, you’ll he beset by treachery. 
Serpents lie in wait and magical'phenomenona are in 
abundance. Should you find the Talisman, you’ve still 
to find your way back. 

Kingdom of Hamil. 

As the rightful heir to the Kingdom of Hamil, 
you are in the unusual position of having to prove 
your claim to the throne. Evil people are trying to 
prevent you accomplishing your task by any means. 
An adventure game fraught with many dangers, 
puzzles and problems. 

Tetrapod. 

You’re in an arena littered with dormant lizards, 
killer bees and other hostile creatures with whom 
you’ll have to do battle to survive. But beware of your 
own laser bullets, as they bounce off the arena walls. 

Drog na. 

A game for two people - preferably with devious 
minds. There are two vaults containing diamonds and 
your job is to collect and transfer them to your home 
base. While your opponent is out collecting you could 
sneak in and steal his loot... but keep an eye out for 
him doing the same to you. 

Crazy Tracer. 

An arcade style game where you’re in charge of 
a paint roller. Guide your roller around a maze of 
rectangles while evading monsters who are committed 
to destroying it. Gain extra rollers and bonus points 
by painting different objects. But you’ll have to avoid 
running out of paint. 

Volcano. 

Mount Crona has erupted after 150 years of 
silence. And your mission as an Emergency Rescue 
Helicopter Pilot is to save sightseers stranded on the 
slopes. Time is of the essence as the lava approaches 
the sightseers. But you’ll have to take time to evade - 
orshoot - the boulders being hurled from the volcano. 


Carousel. 

A re-creation of the fairground shooting gallery 
- with a difference. Shoot down all the ducks, owls 
and rabbits before you run out of ammunition. 
Watch out for the low-flying ducks. If you fail to shoot 
these, they’ll steal your bullets and reduce your 
chances of success. 

Meteor Mission. 


On an alien planet are six stranded astronauts. 
Launch your capsule from the Mothership and by 
avoiding - or shooting - meteors and alien craft, pick 
up the astronauts one at a time and return them to 
the Mothership. 

All games - with the exception of Gateway to 
Karos which is currently only available on cassette - 
can be bought direct in either cassette or disc form. 
You will find all these programs at your local Acorn 
stockist. To find out where they are simply call 
01-200 0200. Credit card holders, phone 01-200 0200, 
anytime. Or 0933 79300, during office hours. 

Alternatively, you can order the games by 
sending off the coupon below to: Acornsoft, c/o Vector 
Marketing, Denington Estate, Wellingborough, 
Northants NN8 2RL. Please allow 28 days for delivery. 


To: Acornsoft, c/o Vector Marketing, Denington Estate, 
Wellingborough, Northants NN8 2RL. 

Please send me the following software games: 


PROGRAM 

Gateway to Karos 

OUANTITY 

DISC/CASSETTE 

Kingdom of Hamil 



Tetrapod 



Drogna 



Crazy Tracer 



Volcano 



Carousel 



Meteor Mission 



TOTAL 




Price Cassette: £9.95; Disc: £11.50 

1 enclose PO/Cheque payable to Acornsoft Ltd. Or charge my 
credit charge. 

Card Number:_ 

Barclaycard/Access (Delete) 

Name_ 


Address 


Signature_ 

Registered No. 1524763 


Postcode 


VAT No. 215 8123 85 



itCORNSlFT 

























































t 

t 



NOT FOR SALE 


^geon /AaWmum still 
'ete's favourit^^ for 


THEY WROTE ONE 


''One of the directions I see 
adventure games going is 
towards multi-player games 
— and that very rapidly 
becomes role-playing. The 
problem is the interaction. 
Parties would be virtually 
impossible; people wouldn't 
be willing to sit around and 
wait for you". 

The key question is, of 
course, how does Austin 
squeeze 300K of Fortran pro¬ 
gram into 32K? The answer is 
'a-code'. "To write in, it's like 
a machine code in its facili¬ 
ties, for an idealised adven¬ 
ture machine, that's the high¬ 
brow explanation. The low¬ 
brow one is that it's a very 
simplified version of Basic 
which compiles down into a 
couple of bytes for each code. 
Normally Basics compress 
the key word but hold the rest 
of the statement in text. What 
a-code does is compress the 
whole lot down into a single 
instruction, rather like an 
assembler, but it doesn't 
actually go right the way 
down to machine code. It's 
really very compact and it's 
portable as well, so effec¬ 
tively all our games are inter¬ 
preted. We have an a-gode 
interpreter on each machine." 

With the actual games well 
sorted out, Pete's main con¬ 
cern these days is ten make 
Level 9 more professional. 
Already the new packaging is 
a considerable advance on 
the old, but even this is to be 
overtaken. "We'd like to have 
artwork that you wouldn't 
mind hanging on your wall." 
Even the box design is being 
reworked for user conveni¬ 
ence. Advertising is going to 
be put in the hands of an 
agency, routine office work 
given to a secretary — but 
what Austin is really looking 
for is a full-time artist. 
"There's somebody I'd really 
like to use if I can persuade 
him, but you can't really say 
that there's a secure future in 
computer games. Imagine's 
overheads were absurdly 
high — cars and office block 
and all those trimmings. We 
keep ours as low as we can, 
though I suppose we'll need 
proper premises sometime." 

Level 9's future looks pretty 
secure. A strong back list — 
Pete stands by every title, 
which must be pretty rare 
among game companies — 
and sound, well thought-out 
future plans. Erik is pretty 
certain to be a Xfnas biggie, 
while the moye into graphics 
will bring them into^^whole 
new market. And if Pete Aus¬ 
tin is half as go0d at pictures 
as \m is at mt, than dont 
wait for revMws of RedMoon 
and Erik^ie Viking. 


EVEL 9 Com¬ 
puting, source 
of Colossal 
Adventure, 
Adventure 
Quest, Dun¬ 
geon Adven¬ 
ture, Snowball and Lords of 
Time, is very much a family 
affair. From their home on the 
outskirts of Fligh Wycombe, 
massed Austins prepare to 
ruin the working and sleep¬ 
ing patterns of innocent 
owners of a range of micros 
that includes the BBC, Spec¬ 
trum, 64, Ataris, Lynx and 
Oric, with Memotech and 
Amstrad on the way. 

Mike and Nick are the cod¬ 
ers and interpreters; Mar¬ 
garet, with the help of Mother, 
runs the business side; while 
designer Pete sits at the 
centre of the web, working 
on new and ever more fien¬ 
dish adventure games. 

Pete, now 29, studied nat¬ 
ural sciences at Cambridge 
where he developed two dif¬ 
ferent interests that go a long 
wai^tl^xplaining Level 9 — 
J^ngeo^ & Dragons and 
' computeni. Abandoning 
biofad^y. he^l^ent a year in 
corhmOTCial coifeputing, writ- 
wig CoboKbefore ipoving to^ 
" developing’^entificVYSteiT^' 
on a DEC-typdii|achifm,^t 


before the company fell apart, 
he joined Flewlett-Packard 
("definitely a mistake") only 
to find that their promised 
'research lab' was in fact a 
coding shop. 

Along the way he started 
Level 9 which, with a Basic 
utility and a Valhalla (without 
pictures) game for Nascoms, 
had become a profitable 
hobby. It got on its present 
course with his implementa¬ 
tion of Colossal Adventure 
(see page 54) which included 
his own endgame. His first 
complete design, however, 
was Adventure Quest, which 
marked the first move away 
from Nascoms. 

The BBC had just been 
launched: "We saw it as a 
good machine, nice to work 
on and obviously it would 
sell. I guess I'm different. The 
traditional route is via the 
Spectrum, but we didn't like 
the Spectrum as a machine 
to write programs on. It's not 
got the facilities that the BBC 
has. So we went for the BBC 
first aQ#produced Spectrum 
versions I^r". These days, 
th^gh, Pate'l^es the BBC as 
limiting machine that 
restri^^med^^opment. 
Q0ist \^s follc^ed by 


Spectrum and Nascom. But 
in June 1983, fed up with his 
job and seeing that profes¬ 
sionalism was the coming 
thing in computer games, he 
quit and Level 9 became a full¬ 
time occupation with brother 
Mike, who had just left school, 
pitching in. 

With the 'Middle Earth' tril¬ 
ogy behind him, Pete turned 
next to science fiction. The 
massive 7000-location 
Snowball, the first in a pro¬ 
jected, and fully realised, Sil¬ 
icon Dream trilogy (Return to 
Eden should be out soon, with 
The Worm in Paradise to fol¬ 
low) has achieved justified 
fame, voted a favourite by 
adventure gamers. 

Lords of Time, designed by 
Sue Gazzard but altered and 
amended by Pete completes 
the current list. "It's slightly 
easier than Dungeon Adven¬ 
ture. People were writing and 
saying the games were get¬ 
ting too hard. I'm going back 
to making them harder now. 
Future ones are going to be 
pretty hard." 

Future ones, at the 
moment, are Red Moon, 
Level 9's first graphics game, 
and Erik the Viking, based on 
Terry Jones' prize-winning 
childrens' book and with 
stunning graphics. Red Moon 
was designed by Dave Wil¬ 
liamson, but once again 
heavily worked over by Pete. 
"When we get designs from 
other people, we usually have 
to make loads of changes. I 
had to censor Dave's 
descriptions. He'd got dead 
bodies rotting round every 
corner! 

"Erik is probably the last 
game to be done entirely by 
me. I think in future I'll have 
to spend less time on each 
one. Itwas interesting to read 
an interview with Scott 
Adams where he said he 
could design a game in a 
week and code it in another 
two. It's physically imposs¬ 
ible to do our games in any¬ 
where near this time ..ch 
one takes a couple of months. 
We've got 200 locations while 
Adams only has to worry 
about 30. 

So who does Pete admire? 
"Infocom. I like their sense of 
humour. I've gone off Adven¬ 
tures that take themselves 
deadly serious. I prefer things 
where you take a wrong turn¬ 
ing and fall into a sewer rather 
than get crushed by a rock, 
for instangi^and come out 
smellin^. So ®^ful the other 
chara^ers avoicT^u. I don't 
like^^nture ganl^s where 

J iu go everything. 

prefer^i^amesXwith puiizjes 
and g^osphere'^^liere 
haf010 think beferecting. 
































Adventure-makers are a 
special breed. JOHN COH- 
QXnSST and HaCKTt XIKLUNA 
talked to a couple of megas¬ 
tars in tbe field. 


camwiEVEum 


to play an Adventure. And I 
certainly miss edit mode after 
having had intimate know¬ 
ledge of a word pro. 

Kintilla carries on from 
where Velnor left off. The 
story goes thus: After Velnor 
was vanquished, there 
remained a corridor that led 
from Earth to Hell. The evil 
demon Grako sped along it, 
seizing Velnor's moonstone 
as he went. Naturally, this 
enabled him to become 
supreme power on Earth, to 
be valiantly vanquished by 
you alone . . . 

Brewster has tired of stock 
fantasy critters, and has come 
up with his own inventory. 
So beware of Zats, Arga- 
moles and Rotting Quark, 
amongst others. Another 
word of warning — polish up 
your Velnor before you play 
Killiam — I have it from the 
horse's mouth that it's 
dashed difficult. But Derek 
has a clue for Big K'ers. 
"Rememberthatthe game is 
named after a certain sword. 
That's VERY IMPORTANT." 
We have it noted, Derek. 

The Brewster Catalogue is 
certainly one that sorts out 
the men from the molluscs. 
Speaking as the latter. Cod¬ 
ename Mat left me com¬ 
pletely floored. I admired the 
brilliant programming that 
bought this Star Raiders/Star 
Trek-sXyle spectacular to life. 
As Mat, you have a great var-| 
iety of technology in yourl 
space-craft. You have a long i 
distance tracking device, a I 
scan across the solar system,| 
and control panel. You speedl 
through the stars (cruise^ 
speed and warp too), or you 
can take a peek over your 
shoulder through the back 
window — and see the stars 
speeding away from you. 
Cor! 

Clever stuff. But master¬ 
minding the whole gismo to 
save the Universe became too 
much for me. I had to boldly 
go where no Xikluna had 
gone before — and got lost. 
Then I was assailed by so 


much flak that I can only 
compare what happened to 
an average working day at Big 
K. Why did Derek produce 
such a complicated game? 

"A really good game has to 
be as believable as possible. 
It needs thought, time and has 
to be worked out perfectly. 
Absolutely everything must 
flow into a kind of universal 
master-plan. That's most 
obvious in the case of adven¬ 
ture. I mean you can't have 
an iceberg next to a desert, 
can you?" 

So how did Derek stumble 
across his proclivities? 

"I was at University in 
Newcastle — and started 
playing Colossal Cave on the 
mainframe. I got hopelessly 
hooked, and never stopped 
playing. One day it struck me 
thatthe game lacked realism. 
There was no atmosphere, 
and the combat sequences 
weren't up to much. So I 
thought I'd have a go. That 
was the first of Velnor's Lair 
— except at that stage it was 
just called 'Derek's Adven¬ 
ture'. The problem was that 
the compiler I was working 


with only possessed 20K of 
memory. I was a bit too shy 
to ask for more." 

Luckily for posterity, the 
Spectrum arrived in the nick 
of time, (Fanfare). Derek 
translated, expanded and 
renamed 'Derek's Adven¬ 
ture', and Ouicksilva rapidly 
crossed the Brewster palm 
with gold. Well, silver. 

What does Derek do now 
in his spare time? 

"Oh, I'm doing a PhD in 
geo-physics. Rock magnet¬ 
ism, actually, and how it 
affects the movement of the 
Earth's crust. I'm trying to find 
a way of stimulating the 
attraction of rocks to one 
another in a laboratory. You 
know." 

Sure I do . . . Anything else? 

"Sleeping. I did it very well 
all through school. I like my 
freedoms best of all. That's 
why writing games for a liv¬ 
ing suits me down to the 
ground. I really enjoy it, I 
make a living and I don't have 
to work nine-to-five." 

Touch of the perennial stu¬ 
dent perhaps? 

"Well, maybe just a touch." 


EREK 

BREWSTER 
has a thing 
about mak¬ 
ing compli¬ 
cated plans 
to save the 
universe. 
Well, we're all entitled to our 
little peccadilloes. Derek's just 
happened to have produced 
two best-selling, highly- 
complex games — Velnor's 
Lair and Codename Mat. He's 
also written Haunted Hedges 
and Starclash for Micro Mega, 
and is currently working on 
an un-named Indiana-style 
game. 

Velnor's Lair \s compulsive 
and concise. What strikes 
most people is Derek's ability 
to conjure up vivid and 
atmospheric word-pictures in 
just a few staccato sen¬ 
tences. But the Lair's been 
around awhile now. Would he 
not tap in some illustrations 
if he were writing it today? 

"Nope. Graphics have 
become like chips. (Potato 
version). People expect to 
have them with everything. 
The result is a preponder¬ 
ance of low-level graphic 
adventures. They're boring 
and lurid and totally lack 
atmosphere. But yer real 
connoisseur — he still goes 
for text adventures." 

But no man is an island. 
And Derek's not stuck his neck 
out too far in the war of grey 
matter versus colour splat¬ 
ter. He's conceded 3K to the 
winning side in his new 
release — Kintilla. 

Ittook Derek one and a half 
years to write Kintilla for 
Quicksilva. The game fea¬ 
tures 32 characters and 50 
collectable objects. It's a 
double first for Adventure in 
that it'll compute whole sen¬ 
tences, and it incorporates 
edit mode over previous 
commands. 

Welcome attributes you'll 
agree. I for one get cheesed 
off having to reduce my 
vocabulary to that of a tre¬ 
panned troll every time I want 






























GAMES OF OUR TIME 


No.6: COLOSSAL ADVENTURE (LEVEL 9) 
Orig. Colossal Cave 

AND THE WORD WAS 


rVE GOT a 
map of the 
pirate's maze. 
jWhat have 
you got?" 

"The pir- 
jate's maze! 
^Hot dog! 
Let's think ... do you know 
how to get past the troll for 
free?" 

"Really? Not bad! Any¬ 
thing else" 

"Well that's pretty good 
isn't it? OK, how to kill the 
dragon." 

"Done." 

"You certainly have been." 

I spent the winter of 1982/3 
haggling like this. The office 
had just acquired a word 
processor and the suppliers 
threw in a disc labelled 
'Adventur. To play with'. Not 
a whole lot of word process¬ 
ing got done those first few 
weeks, and the game became 


an office obsession. When the 
top brass came past the 
excited little groups hunched 
round the monitor, we'd tell 
them that it was hands-on 
experience. It seemed to keep 
them happy. Then we found 
that other people were play¬ 
ing it too, and the trading 
began. In those days there 
weren't any helpful books. 

What we'd been given was 
a genuine, no-argument 
classic, the kind of thing that 
will get a chapter to itself 
when professors start writ¬ 
ing the history of computing. 
Its origins lie far back in the 
very dawn of the computer 
age, around 1975, when the 
first version, variously known 
as 'Adventure', 'Adventures' 
'Colossal Cave' or 'Colossal 
Cave Adventure', was cre¬ 
ated by two gentlemen 
named Willie Crowther and 
Don Woods. 


Some might say that cre¬ 
ating games with no 
redeeming intellectual, sci¬ 
entific or social value using 
multi-million dollar equi- 
pemt and valuable computer 
time, was a prime example 
of the tendency of Homo 
Ludens to reduce everything 
to play. Others might cite it 
as a glaring instance of irre¬ 
sponsible computer freaks 
deliberately abusing their 
employers' trust. Most of us 
will just be glad that in that 
golden moment, the adven¬ 
ture game was born. 

Crowther and Woods' 
game was written in Fortran 
(300K of it!) and ran on DEC 
PDP 11s, but was soon trans¬ 
lated into other mainframe 
versions. An American busi¬ 
ness computer magazine 
survey showed that the 
average company lost two 
full weeks of programmers' 
time whenever the staff laid 
their hands on an implemen¬ 
tation of 'Adventure'. 

Translation 

The game's translation from 
mainframes to micros was in 
three stages. First came a 
CP/M version, painfully slow, 
that ran on many business 
machines (such as ours). 
Then came Jim Butterfield's 
condensed version for PETs 
and a rather primitive 
assembler version for IBMs, 
the game being in the public 
domain. Finally came the fully 
matured version — Level 9's. 

'Colossal Adventure', as 
Level 9 dubbed it, was origi¬ 
nally intended to be a com¬ 
plete version of the game for 
micros, with their own a-code 
making it possible to squeeze 
the whole 300K's worth into 
32K. However, after adver¬ 
tising it as a 200 location 
adventure, when Level 9's 
Pete Austin sat down and 
counted them, he found to 
his horror that there were 
actually only 130 odd. Being 
a man of his word, he 
promptly added a 70 location 
endgame, and that's the ver¬ 
sion that you can get for vir¬ 
tually any computer. 

Colossal Adventure illus¬ 
trates from the word Go the 
importance of the Five 
Golden Rules Of Adventure 
Gaming — 1. Make a map. 2. 


Everything is there for a 
reason. 3. SAVE before you 
do anything that looks 
chancy. 4. Read all descrip¬ 
tions very carefully. 5. You 
haven't got all day. The fact 
that nobody has come up 
with a game that adds to 
these shows how sound 
Crowther and Woods' 
pioneering work was. 

Most of these rules should 
be obvious, though in my 
experience many players 
aren't fully aware of them or 
their implications. Mapping 
mazes, for instance, ought to 
be dead easy, but I was able 
to trade my maps for Colos¬ 
sal Adventures for solutions 
to real problems. 

The map bears directly on 
the time aspect. At the 
beginning of Colossal 
Adventure you find a lamp 
which you can switch on. 
However you can also switch 
it off, and you need to do this 
whenever possible because 
it will burn out sooner or 
later, leaving you to break 
your neck in the dark. With a 
map you can wind the game 
up before the batteries give 
out. Otherwise you'll have to 
put coins in the battery dis¬ 
penser. What battery dis¬ 
penser? That's your problem, 
chum. 

Colossal Adventure set the 
standard for puzzle setting in 
later games. Call it the 
Golden Rule for designers — 
a game should not be 
impossible to solve — a rule 
that is not always observed 
even now. The solutions are 
devious, complicated and 
sometimes downright 
bizarre (though Level 9 acci¬ 
dentally abolished my 
favourite, how to kill the 
dragon, in their version), but 
there's always an answer. 

At one time Level 9 used to 
provide a one problem solu¬ 
tion per player services. You 
got, and still get, an enve¬ 
lope with your copy which 
you could use once, and once 
only, to get out of a jam. This 
didn't work out too well, so 
now they send you, on 
request, a clue sheet which 
will at least point you in the 
right direction. On top of this 
you can find answers to many 
of the problems in various 
adventure game books (see 
page 10), which regularly use 
the game as an illustration of 
the genre. 

There are a number of dif¬ 
ferences between Level 9's 
version and the original. 
Some are relatively minor; 
one of the treasures has been 
















































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Versions for BBC, Electron, Amstrad, Oric & others 


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For SPECTRUM, CBM 64 


April 14th 1912. On her maiden voyage 
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Your mission is to raise sufficient 
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Easy!! Well it could be but with 460 
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BIG K DOWN UNDER 


Since the appearance of the dreaded Bilbo and 
the even more dreaded Thorin Oakenshield lo 
these many moons ago, Melbourne House has 
acquired a heavy rep as an adventure games 
company (despite more than a few balancing 
arcade offerings). Now the "Wizards from Aus" 
are conjuring up a whole new slew of adven¬ 
tures. RICHARD BURTON investigates . . . 


SHERLOCK (Spectrum 
48K, Commodore 64). De¬ 
spite a long delay of almost 
QL proportions, Mel¬ 
bourne House have finally 
released their much- 
touted Sherlock Holmes 
adventure. Expectant pun¬ 
ters can at last don the 
famous deerstalker and, 
via the wonders of Inglish 
and Animtalk, deduce their 
way through a complex 
case involving Holmes, 
Watson and a cast of 
dozens. Limited graphics 
and real-time play help 
make this one of the more 
challenging adventure 
games to appear on the 


scene. Out now, cassette 
format, £14.95. (Sherlock is 
BIG K's Pick of the Month. 
See full review on page 15) 

ZIM SALA BIM (Commod¬ 
ore 64). Features smooth, 
arcade-style graphics 
which depict every loca¬ 
tion in the Arabian- 
inspired graphic adven¬ 
ture. Murder, mystery and 
intrigue abound and you 
move your character 
through the desert and the 
Sultan's seemingly im¬ 
penetrable fortress. Con¬ 
trol is by joystick or cursor 
keys plus text input. 
Graphics by Russell Com¬ 


te, who; was responsible; 
for the brilliant visuals of : 
Mugsy. Zim Sale Bim is the 
first in a line of graphic 
adventures for the CBM 64 
Cassette based, it costs^ 
£9.95 and should be out 
now. 

WILD DOGS 

CASTLE OF TERROR (Com¬ 
modore 64). Everyone's 
favourite vampire is back. 
This time Oracular (no kid¬ 
ding, that's how they spell 
it) has locked a maiden in 
his tower. You must make 
a trip through the prover¬ 
bial village to the castle, 
then survive a maze of 
haunted passages infested 
by wild dogs and armoured 
knights (bit of genre¬ 
mixing here) to perform 
the traditional rescue. Bil¬ 
led as ". . The next miles¬ 
tone in sophisticated 
graphic/text adventures 
since The Hobbit" (where 


have we heard that be-' 
fore?) Castle of Terror com¬ 
bines advanced phrase¬ 
handling input along with 
colour graphics and sound. 
Due out in mid-October, 
the game comes in casset¬ 
te format for £9.95. 

HAMPSTEAD (Commod¬ 
ore 64, Spectrum 48K). The 
answer to every closet 
capitalist's dream — you 
must lie and cheat your 
way up the social ladder 
from the depths of Harles- 
den to the trendy heights 
of Hampstead. Conceived 
in Britain the game was 
coded and packaged in 
Aus. Available now in text 
only version for the Spec¬ 
trum 48K and with 
araohics on the CBM 64. 


























































ABF 


SUMMER 


MAIL ORDER ONLY 

/flVING/ 





Interface II 

° ' 9.95 


The new AGF RomSIot has been designed for anyone who already owns a programmable 
joystick interface, or prefers to use the keyboard to control games, and would like to add 
the facility of ROM cartridge software to their system. 

ROM games are already available from Sinclair and in August five totally new titles are to be 
released by Parker Video Games - exclusively in ROM format. 

The advantages of this new system are instantly loading games that may have required a 
larger memory capacity if loaded by cassette. The ROM cartridge is actually a dedicated 
memory device with the program permanently stored in; ready for immediate use. 

An extra feature of the AGF RomSIot is the 'Restart' facility. Any program can be 
instantly re started or conventional machine code games cleared without the need to remove 
the power. 

RomSIot is cased with a full expansion connector for other add ons and is covered by a 12 
month guarantee. 


Programmable Interface 


The AGF Programmable Joystick Interface has established itself over the 
past year as being the only hardware programmed device that accepts ALL 
standard joysticks or trackballs - including Quickshot 11 with 'rapid-fire' 
- for use with ALL Spectrum or ZX81 software. 

The hardware programming method employed by this product has several 
advantages over similar interfaces that require extra tapes to be loaded or 
combinations of key presses and movements of the joystick to be made 
before each game, i.e 

• Programming is not lost when power is disconnected between games. 

• Eight directional control only requires setting of the four normal 
directions. 

• Compatibility guaranteed with ALL key reading methods — machine 
code and BASIC. 

• Several interfaces can be separately programmed for multi-player 
software. 

• Low power four i.c. design allows more expansion. 

The programming leads attached to the interface make contact with 
miniature crocodile clips that give oxidisation free connections every time, 
unlike plug and socket arrangements, and they don't work loose in 
constant use. 

Keyboard operation is unaffected by this interface and it is guaranteed 
never to conflict with ANY other add-ons. 

12 month guarantee, key programming chart and a pack of ten Quick 
Reference Programming cards with full instructions are supplied. 


S1.S5 


plus £l post & packing 


Now the AGF Interface II is even better value. Since we 
pioneered the cursor-key interface in October 1982 there 
are now over 100 games or utility programs with either the 
AGF option or cursor key controlled - that makes it 
unbeatable at this new low price. 

Still incorporating the all important rear expansion con¬ 
nector which means other peripherals can be connected at 
the same time i.e Ram Packs, Printers, Speech Units etc, 
and of course the key replication principle used guarantees 
this will never conflict electrically with any other add-ons. 


(Telephone orders (0243) 823337) 


FROM: MR/MRS/MISS 


□ Please send Information on . 

Please allow up to 28 days from receipt of your order although we normally despatch from stock 
within 7 days. All AGF products are guaranteed for 12 months and are supplied on a 14 day money 
. back undertaking. AGF Hardware, Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Telephone: (0243) 823337. 


ZX SPECTRUM Q 


FINAL TOTAL 


OVERSEAS PRICES ON APPLICATION 
DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME 


RomSIot 


Quickshot II 


onlyJ4;95^ 


pi US 50p post & packing 


SEND TO (NO STAMP NEEDED):- AGF HARDWARE, DEPT.QI^FREEPOST, BOGNOR REGIS, W. SUSSEX P022 

Please tick: I 

□ I enclose a cheque/postal order payable to AGF Hardware for £. | 

□ Please charge my Access/Barclaycard Account No. I 


Quickshot 































































Original adventure game, kill the Vampire and steel his treasure 
before dawn breaks-each of the 40 chateau rooms are graphical 
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For details Call: 0245 41 2124. 


No.556 No.557 

Catalogue available by r equest 


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No.558 No.559 


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ANY GAME PROGRAMMES? For free appraisal and assistafi 
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CONTINUED FROM 

..y 

moved, it if anythirig, eas¬ 
ier to fifid, aod one of the ytll« 
ities {the food} has been 
shifted and takes a bit of work 
to aoquire. More crudat Is the 
limit on how muoh you mn 
carry* Level 0 have rather 
cruelly cut this down from 
seven items to four, which 
means that you have to get ^ 
back to base to unload treas¬ 
ures far more often. All that 
running around means that 
your lamp Is more likely to 
burn out before you'^ve ^ 
hnished. And if the pirate gets 
you with two treasures;^ 
you're in real troublOiL 
because you can't carry them 
and the chest (assuming that 
you can find them at alt, that 
is) and your lamp and your 
axe at the same time, so it's , 
either two trips or, horrors, 
drop the axe before you go in 
the maze. Pretty unpalatable 
alternatives, what? 

Another small, but tricky | 
change is that Level B don't 
remind you about the axe 
after you've thrown it at a 
dwarf, which is OK as long as i 
you're still fighting, but 
makes it very easy to forget 
it after you've killed the little 
brute. This can be very 
embarrassing later on when 
you hnd you haven't got it i 
any more, inevitably when 
you really need it. 

But the big, big difference 
ik the endgame. The original 
game had 350 points to win, 
at least 1 of which was strictly 
for perfectionists (Spelunk* 
er's Oazette). Level 9's has 
1100, and boy you have to 
work hard for them. The end¬ 
game Is a fiendlshiy difftcuft 
race against time, with a per- 
ticutarly brutal maze bang 
across your only route. 
What's more, none of the 
guidebooks covers It, so you 
are on your own. 

Even by Level g's present 
standards, 'Co/ossa/ Adven¬ 
ture Is not the best game j 
available, nor the most^ 
engrossing, the most diffi¬ 
cult, the most fun, or indeed 
the most anything. Com¬ 
pared to Snowball, Zonk, Tho ^ 
Hobbit to Lords of Midnight 
it might seem primltve and 
restricted, solvable by 
methodical plodding. But 
and it's a very big "but'' — 
but it is the grand original, 
the prototype game from 
which ail the rest have 
sprung, the inspiration for 
games that have surpassed 
it in almost every way, but 
can never claim that essen¬ 
tial creative spark. In the 
Beginning was the Word, and 
the Word was XYZ2Y. 


FOR THIS 
MAM, 
MARKED 

Wespot... 


As the author of Adventure X 
(BIG K Issue #2), STEVE CRAD¬ 
DOCK knows a thing or two 
about getting started. Here's a 
tip or two from the man who 
made Aardvarks a force in the 
world... 


OW DO you write an adven¬ 
ture?" they asked me. It all 
starts with an idea. At a later 
date I'll go through writing an 
adventure, but for the 
moment, let me tell you about 
the adventure we listed in Big 
K 2 to give you an idea. 

The original idea for Adventure X was a game 
for a friend of mine, who enjoys playing adven¬ 
tures, but gets frustrated by the more knotty 
problems. I decided to develop a program 
whereby he could go on exploring for as long as 
he liked, but sooner or later couldn't fail to finish 
the game. More exploration than mental gym¬ 
nastics, but still providing a lot of the fun. 

I wanted to avoid dungeons, dragons and the 
more 'traditional' scenarios, so the thought of 
something almost familiar, but not quite, had 
some interesting possibilities. Exploring an alien 
city seemed an exciting prospect, full of strange 
rooms and passages, but littered with familiar 
everyday objects — Mars Bars, video recorders, 
digital watches, aardvarks—well, I like aardvarks 
(and a little aardvark never hurt anyone!) 

As the storyline developed, the ideas began to 
suggest themselves and so did the program¬ 
ming problems. Which is the best way to learn: 
create the problem, then try and solve it, develop 
it further and then solve the new problems! 
Starting as a simple text routine, the program 
developed more complex situations and 
responses, better display with graphics and thus 
into an altogether more colourful game. 

I did create some headaches too! Trying to 
make the events and rooms as random as pos¬ 
sible caused problems (at one time almost every 
room had stairs!), as did giving away as little as 
possible about how to 'win' the game while you 
were typing in the listing! 

Most of the programming was developed in 
modules — getting each part in working order 


Fig.1 


PROGRPH SROE ROUTINE by CrBddOCK 

1 REH •?•?: REH 2 digits tD StO 
re line no 

9995 LET prog=PEEK 23635+2S6»PEE 
K 23636. POKE Prog+S,PEEK 23625; 

POKE prog-»-6,PEEK 23626 

9996 3RUE "prognaae" LINE 9993. 
BEEP .05,0: PRINT "Rewind end pi 
ay to verify" 

9997 UERIFY ' " . BEEP ,05,0 

9998 LET prog=PEEK 23635-J-256»PEE 
K 23636. LET tine=PEEK iprog-^S^-l' 
a56*PEEK fprog+6) 

9999 POKE 23609,30. POKE 23562,2 
; LIST line 


before going onto the next. This made it much 
easier to expand and improve the game. Pre¬ 
senting the information and data in order came 
first — displaying the descriptions etc. — then 
the basic input routine. This allowed me to test 
just the 'bare bones' by moving around the city. 
Then came the responses: trying to think of 
everything I'd tried while playing adventures and 
trying to fit in as much as possible. Next came 
the display routine, presenting the information 
as clearly as possible and, along with all the 
scoring routines, making the game look attrac¬ 
tive to play. Finally came the introduction, replay 
option and tidying up. 

I found Betasoft's extended BASIC program 
most helpful while programming, as this includes 
trace, renumber, auto line number and many 
other handy routines. Figure 1 shows a useful 
routine of mine which you can save on tape and 
merge with new listings you are entering. When 
saving what you've keyed in so far, enter 'GO TO 
9995' as a direct command. This will auto-save 
the program, and then return, ready to continue. 
On reloading, it will list the current line number, 
ready to carry on. POKE 23609,30 provided the 
popular 'typing beep' and POKE 23562,2 speeds 
up the cursor movement, making editing of long 
program lines or data much easier. Line 1 is used 
to store the current line number and should be 
just a simple f?E/W statement. 

I've improved the game enormously since it 
saw print, and you may like to try some improve¬ 
ments yourself, though you'll have to check 
through the listing to see what your changes will 
affect. Add more descriptions in the data lines. 
When you've run the program, these can then 
be deleted to save space, as long as you don't 
use 'run' or 'clear' again (use GO TO ...!). Move 
the intro to the end of the game, and the screen 
set-up to the beginning. This will speed up the 
display. And so on and so on. Or you could have 
a go at writing your own game. Happy adventur¬ 
ing ... 



I m in a c a v e i i K iS r o o m . Th era's 
soma ric K a t y ~ i o o kin 9 stairs Kara 
Exits are do w n , was t, 

Looking around ma X can saa 
nothing also 


X do now, Paul’? 


Uhat shall 
> 9at can 
1 no m have tha can o f coke 
Uhat do you want to do now"? 

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In this version of 
Lunar Lander the 
object is to land 
your Module on 
one of the 


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.620 PRXMf.,, LUNA 

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‘-’=“ sE'"“- 

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61 










r 


Discount 

Computer 

Software 


Registered No. 1795113 
Telephone: (0256) 51444 
16 Coates Close, Brighton Hill, 
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AMAZING SOFTWARE BARGAINS BY MAIL, 100’s OF TITLES AVAILABLE! 
TELEPHONE ORDERS WELCOME. WRITE OR RING NOW FOR FULL DETAILS 


Game 

I r.-spe£iBUJi/i —. 

l ^ mOTRAH 

CHUCKLE EGG 
JUNGLE FEVER 
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KONG 

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SLAP DAB 

GALACTIC ABDUCTOR 
GALAXIANS 
CHESS II 
BEAR BOVVER 
MONKEY BUSINESS 
BIRDS & BEES 
■RON 


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THE GREAT DETECTIVE 
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HEATHROW 
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lAI- 


PARAS 
MUGSY 

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PENGY 

CODENAME MAT 
HAUNTED HEDGES 



ESKIMO EDDIE 
SCRABBLE 
FLIGHT SIMULATION 
3D ANT ATTACK 
BUGABOO THE FLEA 
THE SNOWMAN 
BLUE THUNDER 

lOOKER 





RRP 

Supplier 

Inc. VAT 

ADDICTIVE 

6.95 

A&F 

6.90 


6.90 

AUTOMATA 

10.00 


6.00 

ANIROG 

5.95 


5.95 


5.95 


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4.95 


9.95 


6.95 


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6.95 

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7.95 

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5.95 

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HE BEANSTALK 
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HOW’S THAT 
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SOFTWARE PROJECTS 

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MEGADODO 

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5.95 

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Our Price 
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5.90 

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4.95 

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7.70 
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Game 

COMMODORE 64 

KONG 64 

SKRAMBLE64 

3D TIME TREK 

FLIGHT PATH 737 

SPACE PILOT 

CYBOTRON 

ZODIAC 

ICE HUNTER 

TWIN KINGDOM VALLEY 

OMEGA RUN 

DERBY DAY 

HARRIER ATTACK 

SCUBA DIVE 

BURGER TIME 

GET OFF MY GARDEN 

CHINA MINER 

ARABIAN NIGHTS 

REV OF MUTANT CAMELS 

HELLGATE 

HUNCHBACK 

ANDROID 2 

THE BOSS 

SUPER PIPELINE 

BOZO'S NIGHT OUT 

SNOOKER 

STRIP POKER 

BEACH HEAD 

MYSTIC MANSION 

MANIC MINER 

MISSION 1 

ENCOUNTER 

FRED 

FLIP & FLOP 
ASTRO CHASE 
PITFALL 
BEAMRIDER 
H.E.R.O. 

DECATHLON 
THE EVIL DEAD 
VALHALLA 

FOOTBALL MANAGER 
MONTY MOLE 

PERCY THE POTTY PIGEON 
DALEY THOMPSON DEC 
DARE DEVIL DENNIS 
SHEEP IN SPACE 
TRASHMAN 
SKYHAWK 

VIC 20 

BONGO 

SKRAMBLE 

KRAZY KONG 

BATTLEFIELD 

SLAP DAB 

DARK DUNGEONS 

DRACULA 

FLIGHT PATH 737 

FLIGHT PATH ZERO ONE FIVE 

FALCON FIGHTER 

HELLGATE 

GOLD RUSH 

BENGO 

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PUNCHY 

SPACE JOUST 

JET PAC 

SNOOKER 



RRP 

Our Price 

Supplier 

Inc. VAT 

Inc. VAT 

ANI ROG 

7.95 

6.90 


7.95 

6.90 


5.95 

4.95 


7.95 

6.75 


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9.50 

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6.95 

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7.00 

5.95 

7.00 

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7.00 

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7.00 

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7.50 

6.25 

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5.00 

4.10 

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6.90 

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6.90 

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8.95 

7.80 

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6.90 

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9.99 

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9.99 

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9.99 

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6.99 

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14.95 

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5.95 

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6.00 

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6.90 

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5.95 

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ULTIMATE 

5.50 

4.65 

VISIONS 

8.95 

7.50 


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QUALITY ARCADE ACTION GAMES FOR THE . » 

COMMODORE 64«^£7.95e<> 




QfllMOnS 

The earth is being 
invaded by an alien 
force, the GALAXIONS have 
arrived from a dying planet, determined 
to destroy civilization as we know it. 

They come in formation, swooping and 
diving towards the planet earth. You and 
you alone can save mankind from the 
terrifying destruction the aliens threaten 
us with. 

•WA fantastic version 
of this popular 
arcade game. 

to ti|c Oicmic 

In days of old when 
knights were bold and 
the sheriff was in power, 1 
to play this game guide Robin Hood, 
to Marian locked up in the tower. 



eeZZzz 


*^When teddy to the picnic went 
there came the smell of hone^ 
So off he went to find the ip 
hive to fill his empty tummy. 

The bees that guard honey 
pots are sharpening up 
their stings as teddy fills hisi 
empty turn sweet melodys ’ 
he sings. 

£5.95 




iV. % 


^64 


just a few of the hazards you will encounter. 


Guide Boris up the ladders, to collect a coin 
from the top of the screen, but beware! the 
bogy men are out to get you. He must return 
to the bottom of the screen, avoiding the 
bogy men and insert the coin in the electric 

meter. The lights will 
come on enabling you 
' to see the pitch fork, and 
after retrieving it, kill the 
bogy men. 


imxpmxDviczo 

£ 5*00 MMCbMAR £ 5*00 
^(saamhlA £ 5*00 OfUilXIOnS £ 5*00 

CUN FIGHT £ 5*00 

flSTEnOUDS £5*00^.«t»>?gr^£6*00 
a&]6K EXPANDEDVIC20 

£7.95 


All our games are available mail order P&P included 
from the above address. Orders sent by return post. 

Also available from all good computer shops. 

"O^^stribution, PC S. Darv^en, CENTRE SOFT West Midlands, TIGER Cheshire, LIGHTNING London. LEISURESOFT Northampto'nT 
R5I COMPUTER GAMES Barnsley, FIVE D SOFTWARE East Marling. COMPUTER WORLD UK Bolton. 

FERRANTI & CRAIG LTD Wiltshire. VICSOFT Slough. DRAKE DISTRIBUTION Plymouth 


CG78 































eduy^i^mpire Deathstar, can you penetrate its ; 
estroy it b^re it destroys you? 

Wachine codV to^^l^ you 12 screens of 3D graphics, super 
smooth i3D animation, unbeli^lble sound effects, music, 4 skill levels 
and hiscore table... this is t^ ultimate challenge! 

This game has to be ifelayet^o be believed! You have not 


seen what the Comr 


B4 is capable of until you have 


played Deathstar lntWcep%! - Comn^ 


it £9.9! 


Available no' 


tcoRc laooaaa iix iNXEUis 3 h% iooqoqo 


HOWTO ORDER 1 

To purchase Deathstar Interceptor, simpl] 
fean d address on a piece of paper, enclosin 
^^rade payabWo; SYSTEM 3 SO FT WAR 
addresSrli^BiPlease allow 7 to 14 days 


Overseaifl^cfers 

Please add £1,00 per game ordered. 


System 3 


South Bank House, Black Pnnce Ro 
Tel: (01) 587 0873 , 






























A COMPLETE PACKAGE - ALL THIS FOR £499! 

*80K*RAM (Exp to 144Kj 

* Full Stroke Keyboard 

* 256K Data Storage Unit 

* Daisywheel Printer 

* Built-In Word Processing 

* Buck Rogers Arcade Game 

* Colecovision Compatible 



Inc VAT 





MEMORY CONSOLE & DATA DRIVE 


DAISYWHEEL PRINTER 


IVE INSTRUCTIONS 


COLECOVISION GAMES CONSOLE 


QUITE SIMPLY-VALUE FOR MONEY! 

If you're looking for real value in a computer system, one which can handle anything from serious Word Processing to 
enhanced Colecovision style video games such as Buck Rogers, look no further. The Coleco Adam is here with a package 
which will make you wonder if you're dreaming when we tell you about it. A price breakthrough in computer systems, Adam is 
comprised of an dOK RAM memory console* with a built-in 256K digital data drive; a professional quality, stepped and 
sculptured 75 key full-stroke keyboard; a letter quality daisywheel printer and a full word processing program built into the 
Console. Two additional pieces of software. Smart BASIC and also ‘Buck Rogers - Planet of Zoom'(the ultimate in advanced 
video games), are included as well as a blank digital data pack. Adam can be used with any domestic colour Television set. 


MEMORY CONSOLE/DATA DRIVE: ‘The heart of the Adam system is the 40K ROM and 64K RAM memory 
console which combines with the 32K ROM and 16K RAM in Colecovision to give you a total of 72K ROM (including 24K 
cartridge ROM) and 80K RAM (expandable to 144K). Built into the memory console is a digital data drive which accepts 
Adam’s digital data packs, a fast and reliable mass storage medium that is capable of storing 256K of information, that’s 
about 250 pages of double spaced text! The console is also designed to accomodate a second optional digital data drive. 

FULL STROKE KEYBOARD: The Adam keyboard has been designed as a professional quality keyboard that 
combines ease of use with an impressive array of features. It is stepped and sculptured for maximum efficiency and has 75 
full stroke keys which include 6 colour coded Smart Keys which are redefined for each new application; 10 command keys 
which are dedicated to the word processing function, and 5 cursor control keys for easy positioning of the cursor at any 
point on the screen. You can attach a Colecovision controller to the keyboard to function as a numeric keypad for easy 
data entry. It can also be held like a calculator, a feature which makes working with numbers particularly easy. The joystick 
part of the hand controller can be used in the same way as the cursor control keys, to move the cursor around the screen. 

LETTER QUALITY PRINTER: The Smart Writer letter quality daisywheel printer is a bi-directional 80 column 
printer which prints at a rate of 120 words per minute. It uses standard interchangeable daisywheels, so a variety of 
typestyles are available. The printer has a 9.5 inch wide carriage for either single sheets or continuous fan fold paper and 
uses standard carbon ribbons. It is comparable to many printers which cost as much as the total Adam package. The 
printer can be used either with the Adam’s Smart Writer word processing program or as a stand alone electronic typewriter. 

BUILT-IN WORD PROCESSOR: Adam comes with Smart Writer word processing built-in. This program is so 
easy to use that you only have to turn the power on and the word processor is on line and ready to go. Detailed instruction 
books are not necessary as the Computer guides you step by step, working from a series of Menu commands. It enables 
you to type in text, then completely edit or revise it with the touch of a few keys. Changes are readily made and a series of 
queries from the computer confirm your intentions, so that you can continuously double check your work as you type. 

COMPATIBILITY WITH COLECOVISION: By using high speed interactive microprocessors in each of the 
modules, the Coleco Adam is designed to take additional advantage of both the 32K ROM and 16K RAM memory capability 
in the Colecovision. If you do not already own a Colecovision Console (£99 inc VAT), then you will need to purchase this 
when you initially purchase your Adam Computer package (£499 inc VAT), making a total purchase price of (£598 inc VAT). 

WHAT IS COLECOVISION: Colecovision is one of the worlds most powerful video game systems, capable of 
displaying arcade quality colour graphics of incredible quality on a standard Colour TV set. The console (see picture 
bottom left) accepts 24K ROM cartridges such as Turbo and Zaxxon and is supplied with the popular Donkey Kong 
cartridge and a pair of joystick controllers. Colecovision has a range of licenced arcade hits available such as: Gorf, 
Carnival, Cosmic Avenger, Mouse Trap, Ladybug, Venture, Smurf, Pepper II, Space Panic, Looping, Space Fury, Mr Do, 
Time Pilot, Wizard of Wor and many others. So there you have it, Adam plus Colecovision the unbeatable combination. 
Send the coupon below for your FREE copy of our 12 page Colour brochure giving details on the complete Adam system. 


SILICA SHOP LTD.. 1-4 The Mews. Halherley Road. SIdcup. Kent. DA144DX Tel: 01-3091111 orOI-3011111 


r 


ORDER NOW-OR SEND FOR A FREE COLOUR BROCHURE 


To: SILICA SHOP LTD, Dept BIG K1084,1 -4 The Mews, Hatherley Road, 
Sidcup, Kent, DA14 4DX. Telephone: 01 -3091111 or 01 -301 1111 

LITERATURE REQUEST: _ 




□ Please send me your FREE 12 page colour brochure on Colecovision/Adam 

□ I own a . Videogame □ I own a . Computer 

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lUP r-il ;»sti 

SRSSsSSpWs#® SBrffesOsi^fe 


ifc Mi Mi Sf»i S«i 

«liS Mi Mi Mi ^ 

Mi MsMi Mi !#i 

Mi Ms Mi ** i*« M! Mi 

Mi Mi i<ti ^ 

Mi Mi Mi Me Mi Mi 


:f 4 , fe- mi 


ww s«« s«tt »« rfte 
w« 5#s site s#i 
^ ^ site site 
tete s«« 


site Site 

s«« »te tete site »te 
sfe tete 

site »4te site ^ 

site ^ site »te tite 

site site Site 

site site site Site 


The name conjures up thoughts of 
alien-zapping hardware but, as NIGEL 
FARRIER shows, these particular 
weapons provide a superior form of 
Sprite movement. 


All Atari computers have 
provision for 4 Players and 4 
^Missiles. These are 'user 
defined' graphics characters, 
which can be moved over the 
screen display without 
affecting the 'picture' which 
is being displayed. Atari 
player/missiles are a supe¬ 
rior implementation of the 
sprite concept. Player/ mis¬ 
siles however, have certain 
embelishments which are not 
normally found with Sprites. 


Player/missile sizes and 
pixel resolution can be more 
easily expressed in terms of 
'colour clocks' and 'scan 
lines'. As a point of reference, 
a single 'pixel' which has 
been plotted in GR.7 will have 
a resolution of 1 colour clock 
wide, by 2 scan lines high. 

There are 2 options for ver¬ 
tical resolution and the choice 
should be made according to 
'detail' required, and money 
available. 

1) Single Line Resolution: 
This is the same vertical res¬ 
olution as in GR.8 and 
requires 2K of RAM to be 
allocated for storage of P.M. 
data. 

2) Double Line Resolution: 
This is the same vertical re¬ 
solution as in GR.7 and 
requires IK of RAM to be 
allocated for storage of P.M. 
data. 

The hardware 'shadow 
register' SDMCTL, at 559 
(decimal), is used to control 
the vertical resolution. 

Poke 559, 62 for single line 
resolution. 


Poke 559,46 for double line 
resolution. 

Although the vertical reso¬ 
lution selected will apply to 
all players and missiles, the 
horizontal resolution of each 
player or missile can be con¬ 
trolled. Each player has a 
normal horizontal resolution 
of 8 separate 'colour clock' 
sized pixels, whereas mis¬ 
siles are only 2 pixels wide. 
There are SIZEP0 — SIZEP3, 
located at 53256 — 53259, 
which can be 'set up' as 
shown in fig.1. 

Missile widths are all con¬ 
trolled by one register, called 
SIZEM, at 53260. Each pair of 
bits is used to control the size 
of 1 missile as shown in fig.2. 


As previously stated, 
player/missile graphics 
require that an area of RAM 
be allocated for storage of 
P.M. data. This 'block' of RAM 
must start on a 1K boundary 
for double line resolution, of 
on a 2K boundary for single 
line resolution. The upper 
limit of free RAM is defined 
by the Display list, which var¬ 
ies in location according to 
the graphics mode in use, so 
first of all, the location of the 
Display list should be found 
by PEEKing the display list 
'pointers'. 

DLIST - PEEK(560) + 
256*PEEK(561). 

Obviously the Display list 
must not be overwritten by 
the P.M. data, so the IK or 2K 
boundary must be selected 
accordingly. For conveni¬ 
ence, table 1 gives the 


addresses of the IK and 2K 
boundaries which may safely 
be used on 16K machines. 
The corresponding page 
number is also given, and this 
must be POKed into the 
PMBASE register at 54279, 


which tells the ANTIC 'chip' 
where to start retrieving the 
P.M. data. 

Note that each 1K 'block' of 
RAM can be considered to 
consist of four 256 byte 
'pages'. 


D7 

D6 

D5 

D4 

D3 

D2 

D1 

DO 

128 

64 

32 

16 

8 

4 

2 

1 


SIZEPO —SIZEP3 


NOT USED 


SIZEPO —SIZEP3 


NOT USED 


SIZEPO —SIZEP3 


NOT USED 


SIZEPO —SIZEP3 


NOT USED 


Byte Value 

0 = normal width pixels. 

1 = double width pixels. 

2 = normal width pixels. 

3 = quadruple width pixels 


Fig. 1: Bit assignments for size registers SIZEPO — SIZEP3. 
(53256 — 53259) 


Memory 


Allocation 


D7 

D6 

D5 

D4 

D3 

D2 

D1 

DO 

128 

64 

32 

16 

8 

4 

2 

1 


Bit No. 
Bit Value 


SIZEM 



M2 

Ml 

. 

SIZEM 


0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

6 

1 

SIZEM 

0 

0 

1 

1 

0 

1 ■ 

0 

0 


Byte Value 

1 = Missile 0 double width, 

missiles 1-3 normal width. 


52 = Missile 1 double width, 

missile 2 quadruple width, 
missiles 0 & 3 normal width. 


Fig. 2: Bit assignments for size register SIZEM (53260) 








































































Figure 3 shows some 
'player' shapes drawn in 
single line resolution, and in 
both normal and double 
width modes for compari¬ 
son. The cursor square is also 
shown to the same scale, to 
give an indication of the 
actual size of the players. 


i4i 


Fig. 3: Some Player Shapes In 
Single Artd Double Widths. 


ister. The position registers 
are HPOSPO - HPOSP3, at 
53248 - 53251, for players, 
and HPOSMO - HPOSM3, at 
53252 ~ 53255, for missiles, 
and they hold the position of 
the pixels controlled by the 
left bit of a player/missile data 
byte, or pair of bits. 

Since the registers can hold 
a value 0 - 255, this is the 
range of horizontal move¬ 
ment, with a distance of 1 
colour clock between each 
position. The centre of the 
screen is at position 127/128. 

The normal width of the 
display area — which we will 
call the Playfield — , is only 
160 colour clocks wide, with 
a border on each side of about 
50 colour clocks. This gives 
approx. 190 colour clocks as 
the total width of the T.V. 
screen, which means that 
there are about 33 colour 


one vertical position to 
another, only the relevant bits 
at the old position are cleared, 
and only the relevant bits at 
the new position are set, 
leaving the remaining bits 
unchanged. This process is 
called masking. 

The use of machine code 
can be avoided by using more 
advanced programming 
techniques to assign the P.M. 
data area to a string, and the 
P.M. data to a sub string. 
String 'slicing' can then be 
used to move the data from 
one location to another. List¬ 
ing 1 shows the BASIC code 
which will 'set up' the strings, 
and it can be included in your 
own programs, if there is 
enough free RAM available. 
Note’that sub strings with 
different data values can be 
utilised to make 'instant' 
changes to the shape of a 


Single Line Resolution 


Graphics Mode 

DLIST address 

GR.O 

15392 

GR.1 

15710 

GR.2 

15872 

GR.3 

15950 

GR.4 

15690 

GR.5 

15210 

GR.6 

14210 

GR.7 

12194 

GR.8 

8272 


Table 1: IK end 2K boundary 

addresses. 

Figure 4 shows how sec¬ 
tions of the P.M. storage area 
are allocated to each of the 
players and missiles. You will 
see that a varying amount of 
RAM between the P.M. area 
and the Display list appears 
to be wasted. This area, 
together with the RAM allo¬ 
cated to players which are not 
being used is, however, 
available for storage of other 
data, or machine code rou¬ 
tine. 

The length of the BASIC 
program must be controlled, 
to ensure that the player areas 
are not overwritten by the 
BASIC code. This would result 
in eome peculiar player 
shapes being displayed. 
Remember that GOSUBs and 
FOR — NEXT loops use the 
Run - Time Stack, which 
resides at the end of the 
BASIC program, and will use 
additional RAM when the 
program Is RUNning. 


Each player and missile has 
its own horizontal position 
register. Horizontal move¬ 
ment can easily be achieved 
by continuously changing the 
value in the appropriate reg- 


clocks on either side of the 
screen, where a 
player/missile shape can be 
stored out of sight. You may 
find however, that your T.V. 
has a slightly narrower, or 
wider border, so the range of 
positions where a 
player/missile shape is visi¬ 
ble will have to be found by 
trial and error. 


Vertical movement of play¬ 
ers and missiles is more dif¬ 
ficult to achieve than 
horizontal movement. There 
are no vertical position reg¬ 
isters, and therefore, players 
Can only be moved vertically 
by moving the player data 
values from one byte to 
another, within the allotted 
RAM area. This means that, 
for smooth vertical move¬ 
ment, a machine code rou¬ 
tine which can move data 
very quickly, is usually 
required. 

Missiles are even more dif- 
ficult to move vertically if 
there is more than one being 
displayed. Because the data 
for all four missiles is con¬ 
tained in 1 byte, if that data is 
moved, then all 4 missiles will 
move. To overcome this 
problem we must ensure that, 
when a missile is moved from 


player. Listing 2 illustrates 
this, and if necessary, listings 
1 and 2 can be combined. 

The range of vertical 
movement is the same as the 
number of bytes allocated to 
each player, i.e. 256 or 128, 
and since the playfield is only 
192 single scan lines high, 
once again, players can be 
moved off the screen in either 
direction. 

If you feel that moving 
player/missile shapes verti¬ 
cally is a bit more difficult 
than it should be, then you 
should bear in mind that it is 
still much easier than trying 
to poke shapes directly onto 
the screen. 


Player shapes are defined 
in the same way as normal 
characters, using 1 byte per 
line of pixels. But however, 
whereas normal characters 
have only 8 lines of pixels, 
each player, or missile, can 
have either 256 lines, or 128 
lines, depending on the ver¬ 
tical resolution employed. 
Pixels can be 'lit' on any, or 
all, of these lines, by setting 
bits of the relevant P.M. data 
bytes. Figure 5 shows the 
corresponding byte values for 
a typical player shape. 


: + 0 

NOT USED 

+ 768 

M3 M2 M1 

+ 1024 

PLAYER 0 

+ 1280 

PLAYER 1 

+ 1536 

PLAYER 2 

+ 1792 

PLAYER 3 

+ 2048 

FREE RAM 

VARIES 

DISPLAY LIST 

VARIES 




SCREEN RAM 


Double Line Resolution 


PMBASE + 0 


NOT USED 


M3 M2 Ml 


+ 1024 


VARIES 


VARIES 


PLAYER 0 


PLAYER 1 


PLAYER 2 


PLAYER 3 


FREE RAM 


DISPLAY LIST 



Rg. 4: Pleyer/Missile Memory Allocetion 



Missile shapes only require 
a pair of bits to define a line 
of 2 pixels, therefore a single 
byte contains the data for the 
corresponding lines of all 4 
missiles, as shown in fig. 6. 


































































Continued from previous page 


D7 

D6 

D5 

D4 

D3 

D2 

D1 

DO 

128 

64 

32 

16 

8 

4 

2 

1 


Bit Value 
Byte Value 


\i 

IS 


0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

1 

1 

0 

0 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

0 

0 

1 

1 

1 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

1 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


Fig. 5: Data Values For A Typical Player Shape 


D7 

D6 

D5 

D4 

D3 

D2 

D1 

DO 

128 1 

64 

32 

16 

8 

4 

2 

1 


'—^—' 



0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 


Fig. 6: Data Values For Missiles. 


Colours 


A player/missile shape can 
be given only one of the 256 
ATARI colour/brightness val¬ 
ues available. Multi coloured 
shapes can only be achieved 
by overlapping players or 
missiles, which each have a 
different colour, or by using 
Display list Interrupts to 
change the colour of com¬ 
plete lines of player/missile 
pixels. 

Each player has its own 
colour register, COLPMO — 
COLMP3, at 53266 - 53269, 
with 'shadow' registers 
PCOLRO - PCOLR3, at 704 - 
707. Missiles however, take 
their colour from the corre¬ 
sponding player register. 

The value for the required 
colour is POKed into the rel¬ 
evant shadow register. This 
is because the Operating 
System updates all the hard¬ 
ware registers during the 
Vertical Blank period, using 
the values which are con¬ 
tained in the shadow regis¬ 
ters. You should therefore, 
always use the shadow reg¬ 
isters, except when a register 


Bit Value 


Missile No. 
Byte Value 


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0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 


Missile 0 defined 


Missile 2 defined 


0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 


All missiles 
defined. 


is to be changed from within 
a Display — list Interrupt rou¬ 
tine. 

Refers to Table 2 for the 
values of the various 
colour/brightness corhbina- 
tions. The lowest values for 
each colour give zero bright¬ 
ness, i.e. black, and the high¬ 
est values give maximum 
brightness, i.e. white. 


VALUE 

COLOUR 


0 

GREY 


16 

GOLD 


32 I 

ORANGE 


48 

RED-ORANGE 


64: 

PINK 


80 

PURPLE - BLUE 


96 

PURPLE - BLUE 


112 

BLUE 


128 

BLUE 


144 

LIGHT - BLUE 


160 

TURQUOISE 


176 

GREEN - BLUE 


192 

GREEN 


208 

YELLOW-GREE 

N 

.. ■ 224 

ORANGE-GREE 

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240 

LIGHT-ORANC 

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From Outer Space fantasia—Williams’ Star 
Riders. PAUL BAMBALI dusted Q& his skid- 
lid, fumigated his leathers ahdholdly went 
where even Barry Sheene would think 
twice before ^oing. JEFF VBITCH took the 

pictures. 


F i 

n| 


11/ 



\ 





























some notable differr 
ences. You don't feel the 
wind in your face due to 
the telescreen in front 
and also, I suppose, be¬ 
cause there's no air in 
space anyway. Sat 
astride a rocKei, you do, 
however, feel a tiny bit 
demonic, a feeling en¬ 
hanced by the handy 
force field surrounding 
the Cosmotrack which 
prevents any spills into 
the void and lends an in¬ 
vincible and thus some¬ 
what reckless mood to 
one's ride. 

Competing against 
Thunderbolt ("The Cos¬ 
mic Champ"), Red Hawk 
("Hard to pass"). Side¬ 
winder ("The Snaky 
One"), and Gold Jet ("The 
Rookie"), I relied on the 
old instincts: brake as 
late as possible, acceler¬ 
ate into the bends, come 
out with your thumb on 
the turbo switch, and 
hang on tight. Pass Gold 
Jet and Sidewinder on 
the bends but leave the 
other two for the 
straights — they know 
the tricks. And that Red 
Hawk is a cool one: 


throws you a sideways 
glance as he races past, 
despite a subsidiary rear¬ 
view telescreen. Old 
habits die hard, I guess. 

I qualified — no prob¬ 
lem. Won the first race 
too, though there was 
one sticky moment when 
a cubic cloud strayed 
onto the Cosmotrack and 
proved to be not vapour 
at all but solid as rock. "I 
think you have The Right 
Stuff," said the cyclops 
Robofficial, as I rolled into 
the cheering Cosmo¬ 
drome. Thanks. 

The next stretch, 
across Hexagonia, wasn't 
so easy. I had to race it 
twice to get the vital first 
place. "Excellent," said 
Cyclops-face, "You're 
bound for the stars. "And 
I was. 

So there I was, streak¬ 
ing through the Milky 
Way, giving that Red 
Hawk a face full of after¬ 
burn, when my inter¬ 
planetary credits ran out. 

I came back to Earth with 
a jolt. Damn that mecha¬ 
nic! He was supposed to 
have fixed the brakes on 
my saucer last week... 


RIGHT FROM the start, I 
could smell a rat. 

The 'Start' is the Cos¬ 
modrome, with its tall 
banks of spectators rising 
up on either side. Maybe 
it was the Robofficial, an 
irksome little satellite 
droid with one eye that 
hovered above leaving 
trails of corny com¬ 
puterese letters. G-E-T 
READY. . . It was a six 
second countdown; I 
fingered the Turbo 
switch, turned and spat 
at the nearest rider, and 
twisted the throttle back 
hard. 

The forward surge was, 
as usual, satisfying. It 
took us out of the Cos¬ 
modrome and into the 
first stretch of Cosmo¬ 
track. Then I saw them. 
Huge blue cubes floating 
in the sky as far as the eye 
could see — which, with 
the benefit of a tele¬ 
screen, is pretty far. They 
hung like clouds over the 
Cosmotrack against a 


bright yellow sky. A 
glance down at a planet 
indicator revealed it to be 
Cubitania. I knew then 
that this was the work of 
an artist. 

And it looks like the 
artist had a field day on 
this one. I was informed 
by the Robofficial that the 
game would take me Jp 
'strange faraway 

planets'. Cubitania, Hex¬ 
agonia, Crystalia, Stalal:- 
tica.. .JNhen you've seen 
them all: yellow hex¬ 
agons, mauve pyramids, 
brown stalactites... it all 
looks very pretty, if that's 
your cup of rocket fuel, 
but I didn't come all the 
way to outer-space to 
admire the scenery. 
Nope, I came to race. 

Williams' Star Rider 
promised enhanced 
thrills. Quite apart from 
the quality of the real¬ 
time video simulation, I 
would get to ride a rocket 
bike. I had never ridden 
one before and there are 








'■J 

4 

5 

6 
S 
9 

10 

20 

LfiSH 


p E r-1 D Li n q e o n M aster's 

R E M C h 3 r 3 c t £ r 5 h e e t 
REM 

REM written By 

Peter R. FletHing 


7; BORDER 7: r 
OUER 0; INUERS 


INUERSE l; IN 




REM 
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GO SUB 9900 
let Cis = 9000 

INK 0; PAPER 
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30 PRINT RT 3,b, 

K 3;’'D.M. Character sheet" 

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LOT 24,127; DRRU 71,0 

40 FOR X=1 TO 7; PHINT RT 
F, . 3 ; 0 a (X ) : NbX I :x 
'50 LET aS=INKEY$; IF a$=““ ON_ 
aS-:'CHRa 49 OR a$>CHRa S5 TMLN GU 
to 50 

F0 LET a = (CODS a$.i-4S: RPPM 
,5; PRINT RT a *2+5,3.; INUEHSL 1.; 
Ha (a) : GO TU a aSOO 
190 REM _ 

Pt (15,13) 
a(15,7) 

Sa (15,6) 
r S(15,9) 
h(15,3) 

C $(lb , 9) 
q$(15,9) 

M.i $ (1 b , 2 0 ) 

0 S (7,2 6) 

SUB 1405 


This superb utility is purpose-built to link computing 
with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing mob in what 
is, for games software, a new way. 

A database, in business software, can be compared to 
a card index divided into 'fields'. Filling out the 'cards' 
with relevant categories of information is the first step; 
the database can then be manipulated to keep track of a 
role-playing session's 'characters'. 

The chief user of this computerised record-keeping 
tool will be the session's Dungeon Master. As players 


for SPECTRUM 48K 

by Peter Fleming 


200 

205 

210 

215 

220 

225 

230 

235 

24-0 

250 

260 

270 

2S0 

230 

300 

500 

501 

502 


DIH 

DIM 

DIM 

DIM 

DIM 

DIM 

DIM 

DIM 

DIM 

GO 


::p. 


PLO 


14 


15 


QUER 


r : j : = h i ±-^ , ^ . 

r ; 7) ; hT 14 , 3 : 1 gh t : “ : h ( 

3) ; ; hT 14 : H0"uha ; " ; a ( 

3) 

500 RETU RN _ 

1000 REM 

1005 GO SUB CIS: PRINT HT 
0 , RLaMar Character^ 

1010 PLOT 24:143: DhRU 
T 54:143: DRRU 47,0: HLOT 
3: DRhU 71,0 

l?iiR FOR Z=1 TU lb: PKlNT 
.3;z:TRB S;P 5 (Z):RT z^4,l 
: NEXT Z 

1020 INPUT ''Characlar No. 


7:u; Na 
“Race 


PLO 


3;“0 Lass :“:c $ IP 
5tr:“:a (player.:! 
2) < >0 RND a (p lay 
PRINT “:a(play 


14 


15 


r RT z-i-4. 
13.: q$ (Z ) 


PRI 


THEN 


2)=100 


10.3; “bex : ± 5 

20 ; in t : “ : a (p layer 
Ui s : “ a (p laye r , 4) ; 

; “ : h (P laye r , 1 j T‘y 


1030 GO SUb CIS 
1035 PRINT RT 3 
ad.iustrnent^' 

1040 PLOT 24:14 
1045 FOR z=l TO 
: 3 ; z ; TRB 7 ; ^ i (z 


DRRU 133:0 
: PRINT RT 
NEXT Z 


12 : 20 ;‘Lon 
; ''Hi eqh t : ” 


UO 5Ub 3Sb0 
5RUE "Character 
PRINT "Ue r i f y ‘T 
PRINT "Ue riTied 
STOP 
REM 

GO SUB 505 

PRINT RT 13,2.; rLRSH 
^s Keu to return to iisenu. 
NKEYs="" THEN GO TO 502 
503 BEEP .1,5: GO TO 22 
505 GO SUB CIS: PRINT RT 
piaMer Character" 

’f10 plot 24:143: DRRU 23 
T F4:143: DRRU 47,0: PLOT 
3: DRRU 71,0 

515 FOR Z=1 TO 15: PRINT 
; RT Z i-4 , 3 ; Z ; TRb 
3;Qi(Z): NbXT i 
520 INPUT "Input character 
"iDiaMPr; iF Placer>15 OR p 
< i' THEN GO to' 520 
*525 0L5 
530 GO SUB 30b0 
535 PRINT RT 3,5.; INUERSE 
7 ; - rka ra c te r Sheet No . " p laye f 
340 PRINT RT 5 , 3 ;"Players Name: 
";p$(playerj .; 

(p layer) ; RT 
ue r) 

”545 PRINT RT 3, 
laue r ) ; RT 3 , 20 .;" 

) ; : IF a(Playe r , 
er ,2) < >100 THEN 
e r ': 2) 

550 IF a (p laye r 
NT "/00" 

5bb PKINT hT 
P laue r) ;RT 10 
■.3);RT 11,20.: 

RT 12,3,"Hge 
r s " 

550 PRINT RT 
ue r , b) .; hT 13 , 


74 

























take turns he will have access to each character's pro¬ 
wess sheet on his VDU. Points gained or lost, or status 
altered, can then be entered permanently into the data¬ 
base. 

Although designed for Advanced D&D it can easily be 
converted for other systems such as T&T. Once the 
program has been typed in then RUN200 which will set 
up all the variables. SAVE "Character" LINE 1 will auto 
run it on reloading. Use GOTO 1 to restart at any point. 


1050 INPUT ”Ent£r ad.iuitnisnl no = 
“:ad.iust: IF ad-iUStil OR adjust;- 
15 THEN GO TO 1050 


1055 

PRINT RT ad y US t-HR , 3; rLRbH 

1; a d -i u 5 t : i hh / : uj $ (ad 

jus t 3 

1050 

UU bUb a d .i U S t 10 i-1 100 

1065 

iNhU i "Hny mora 

Rd .ius tnien is 


4: IF Z4="y" OR 

zs="Y" then 

PRINT RT ad.iUSti-4,3 

; ad .ius t ; i Rb 

7 ; Ui $ ( 

a d .i U S 1 3 ; Gu TO 

1050 

1070 

IF z4="n" OR Z4 

=:"N" THEN GG 

TO 2 

' 


1075 

GG TG 1065 


1100 

6TGP 


1110 

INPUT P i (P laup r 

■ 

1119 

PFTUPH 


1120 

input qi (p Layer 

) 

1129 

return 


1130 

INPUT ri(PLayer 

) 

1139 

return 


1140 

INPUT ci (Player 

) 

1149 

RETURN 


1150 

INPUT si (p tape r 

) 

1159 

RETURN 


1160 

INPUT h (P laqe r . 

1) 

llb9 

RETURN 


1170 

INPUT h (Player : 

2) 

1179 

RETURN 


1160 

INPUT h (P laue r , 

3 j 

1169 

RETURN 


1190 

INPUT a (p laue r , 

1) 

1199 

RETURN 


1200 

iNhUi a (Player: 

2) 

1209 

RETURN 


1210 

INPUT a (Player : 

3) 

1219 

RETURN 


1220 

INPUT a (Player, 

4) 

1229 

RETURN 


1230 

INPUT a (Player = 

5) 

1239 

RETURN 


1240 

INPUT a (Player , 

6 ) 

1249 

RETURN 


1250 

INRUT a (P laye r : 

7) 

1259 

RETURN 


1400 

Dh ih ''Flayer's 

Name" , "Ghara 

c t a r ' 

s Name":"Race": 

"Glass" "5ex 

: ‘'HQa aqh t , “Ue 

1 qh t : "51 r 'U: 

‘‘Xs t r 

■" "Int" , "UiS" , "Con","uax" , " 

Ch a '' 



1405 

RESTORE 1400; FOR Z=1 TO 15 


; REhD w $ (Z j : NEXT Z 
1410 RETURN 
1500 REM 
1505 GO SUB 505 


1510 PRINT RT 18,4; FLASH IT'LO 
Mou want this copiadY” 

1515 LET Z 5 = INKEY*: IF Z4 = '‘n‘' UH 
ZS="N” THEN BEEP .1.5; GO TO =0 


L 

1520 IF zs = ‘'y‘’ OR Z$ = ‘'Y'’ i HlN iSL 

EP .1,5: GO TO lbY;0 

1525 GO TO 1515 

1530 PRINT hT 18.4:TRB 28 


1535 

1540 

HYLUk; 

2005 


COPY 

GO TO 50; 
REM 
LiU bUb C L S 


2010 RRINT RT 3,6; INUERSE 1; IN 
K 3;“New charactsr shast” 

2015 PRINT RT 5,3;‘'PLa3sa antar 
nunbar o f ” h i _6 , u ; “ cha ra c ta r sha 
at you MJish'';Hi 7,3.; ^to usa. if 
you wish to use",;RT 0 , 3 ; "tha fi.r 

'z- T. a -3 1 L -Z D L n ^ t =- , “ i 'z, , 3-- , L Pi z I ■: 

.iust brass enter." 

2020 INPUT LINE Zs: IF Z 4 < " TH 

EN IF URL Z4>15 OR URL Z4<0 THEN 
LU Iu 2020 

2025 IF CODE zioQ THEN LET Play 
er=URL z4; lO iu 204© 

2030 FOR Z=1 TO 15 

2035 IF a(Z,l);;;-0 THEN NEXT Z 

2040 LET P laye r =z 

2045 GO SUB CIS 

2050 PRINT RT 3,5; INUERSE 1; iN 
K 3;‘'NeMj character shaat" 

2055 PRINT RT 5,3;“PLayer3 Name; 
";flT 7,3.;;; Nam a ; " RT 8,3; "Ha c a 
; " ; H I 0 ., 3 " L I 3 s s 81 r 

" ; RT 10,3 ; " be x in t 

:"';RT 11,20; "UiS ;"; RT 12,3; "HQa 

Con ; " ; ht 1:3,3 ; " Hi a g 
h t ; Dex : " RT 14,3; "Ua i y 

h t : Cha : " 

2060 PRINT RT 18,3: FLR5H l;"HLa 
uers Name'": INPUT P4CpL3yerj; h 
PINT RT 5,l6;p4ipLayer} 

2065 PRINT RT 18,3: FLASH l;"uha 
racters Name-'": INPUT q 4 ipL 3 yer) 

: PRINT RT 7,10;Q4(Playar} 

2070 PRINT RT 18.3: FLASH l;“uha 
racters Race?": INPUT r$(.pi.auef) 

: PRINT RT 8,10;r4?PLayar) 

2075 PRINT RT 18,3; FLASH l;“Lha 
racters ulass?": INPUT c4^pisy£s' 
); PRINT RT 9,10: c4(player) 

2080 PRINT RT 18,3: FLASH l.:"Cha 
r a c t a r s b a x' ; r L R ;p H 0 " " : IN h 
UT s 4 ip Laye r )IF s 4 Lp Laye r , 1) =" 
F" OR s 4 ip Laye r , 1) =" f " THEN_Libj_ 
s 4 iPL 3 yerj="FemaLe": GO lULuyb 
2085 IF s 4 ip Laye r , 1; =“M'' Oh s4ip 
Layer,lj=“m" THEN LET s4^pi-ayeri 
— " n a i. a : 0 U I U 2 pi 'zi b 
2090 GO TO 2080 

2095 PRINT RT 10 , 1 ©:S4(PLayar5 
2100 PRINT RT 18,3; FLASH l;"Uh3 
racters HPe?": iNPUT hipLayer,!) 
IF h ip Lay a r , 1) < 1 THEN uO TO Hi 

00 

2102 PRINT RT 12,10;h ipLayer,li ; 
"y rs ' 

2105 PRINT RT 18,3; FLASH l;"Cha 
racters HeightY": INhUT hipLayer 
.2); IF hipLayar.H;-;! THeN iiU iU 
'2105 

2107 RRINT RT 13,1©;h (PL3yar , H i ; 

2110 RRINT RT 18,3; FLASH l;"Cha 

racters Ueiah f:": INPUT 

,3;: IF h (PLayar,33 <1 then uu iu 

'2110 

2112 PRINT RT 14,lO;hCpLayar,33; 
" 8 " 

2115 PRINT RT 18,3; FLASH l;"Lha 
racters Httr 1 butas?": INhU i "Str 
: ";a ipLayer,13 : PRINT RT 9,24;a ( 
P Lay a r,13 

2120 IF a ip Layar,13 =18 THEN iNhU 
T "EY-pptionaL Str;";a iPLayer, h3 
: RRINT' RT 9,26 ; " / " ; a iP Lay a r , 23 _ 
2125 INPUT "Int:";a ipLayer,33 : h 
PINT RT 10 ,24;3 ipLayer,33 
2130 INPUT "Uis;";3 ipLayer,43 ; H 
PINT RT ll,24;aipLayer,43 
2135 INPUT "Con:";a ipLayer,b3 : h 
PINT RT 12 ,24;a ipLayer,b3 































HARDWARE REVIEW 


MSX- HOLDING BACK THE 


MICROS OF THE FUJVRE? 


BY THE TIME you read this 
assuming all has gone to plan, 
the Yen has remained 
buoyant, and there's been no 
Third World War — the first 
consignment of the fabled 
MSX computers should just 
about be reaching the shops. 

On the other hand, given the 
habitual delivery dates of the 
computer business, it's quite 
on the cards that, as you read 
this, the first consignment of 
the fabled MSX computers will 
be stuck on a freighter some¬ 
where East of Suez. One 
thing's (more-or-less) for cer¬ 
tain: the stuff will be here any 
day now, so just in case your 
head's been stuck in a barrel of 
tar these last few months . . . 
here's the very latest word in 
pre-launch updates. 

THE STORY SO FAR 

INVENTIVE NIPPONESE elec¬ 
tronics conglomerates, dis¬ 
tressed at their failure to blag a 
piece of the world home- 
computer action on a par with 
their resources and talents, de¬ 
cide to rationalise said home- 
computer scene with an entire¬ 
ly logical and (in view of the 
Duelling Formats situation) 
necessary move: originate an 
agreed standard, by which a 
common system architecture 
and operating system will 
allow ANY manufacturer join¬ 
ing the Ring to make and sell 
hardware, bolt-ons and soft¬ 
ware all of which will run with-, 
out glitches on ANY OTHER 
(rival) machine. 

A deal is struck between said 
Japanese electronics giants 
and existing American firm¬ 
ware giant Microsoft, to be 
called MSX. Companies rush 
to sign up, including JVC, 
Sony, Mitsubishi (makers of 
the wartime Zero fighter — 
there's food for thought), 
Toshiba, Hitachi, Sanyo and 
others, including the sole 
American hardware partici¬ 
pant, Spectravideo. All these 
companies are to make the 
hardware and software while 
Microsoft are to design the 
firmware (the operating sys¬ 
tem, architecture and BASIC). 

THE BAD NEWS 

THE BAD news is that the stan¬ 
dard chosen is, by any ben¬ 
chmark, an elderly one: the 


Z80 CPU (current retail price in 
the UK: £5.00). Nothing wrong 
with this product of the Zilog 
Corp., of course: it powers the 
Spectrum for starters and no 
dude wishing to hook up to 
CP/M (there are still some) can 
do so without a Z80 some¬ 
where in his system (which is 
why Acorn have produced 
their Z80 Second Processor for 
the Beeb). Trouble is, using 
Z80s means you can address a 
maximum of 64K of memory. 
Definitely Last Year's Thing, in 
view of the advent of the 68000 
series of 16/32-bit CPUs which 
of course can handle simply 
scads of memory. 

THEGOODNEWS 

THE GOOD news is that the 
Z80 powers Britain's most 
popular computer ever — said 
Sinclair Spectrum — and 
therefore conversion of 
existing Spectrum progs to 
the MSX standard is a rela¬ 
tively simple matter: which 
in turn means that a very 
great many of the more 
potent Brit software 
houses have already de¬ 
clared their faith in the 
MSX concept, and for 
the last six months 
have been converting 
perennials and writing 
new stuff to fit it. N 
doubt it was because 
of this Z80 domin¬ 
ance that the Japan¬ 
ese decided to u 
the UK as THE 
world testbed 
for the MSX in 
the first place; 
the Americans 
appear dith- 
ery about the concept, 
and besides, the US scene is 
dominated by the Z80's great 
rival chip — the 6502 (as seen 
in Apple, Atari, CBM 64 and 
others). So whether or not 
MSX takes over the world will 
depend to a huge extent on 
whether it takes over the UK. 
You have been warned. 

WHERE WILL THE 
AXE FALL? 

AS THE MSX machines are all 
priced around the £200 mark, 
and boast of 64K of memory, it 
seems clear that they're aimed 
at the first-time buyer: folks 











































Any moment now the MSX all-singing, all¬ 
dancing, all-compatible machines will be in your 
local store. Bufliow baA do we need this "new 
standard"?. And wh«feit'-wy#H«« 


By TONY TYLER 


who would otherwise buy 64s, 
Enterprises, Electrons and Oric 
Atmae. Which naturally means 
that these machines are — 
theoretically at least— in dan¬ 
ger from the new wave. 

It's probably true that Com¬ 
modore stands the best 
chance of all of weathering this 
new Pearl Harbor. After all, 
with all its faults the 64 is THE 
World Machine, and anybody 
who already owns one is 
highly unlikely to ditch it in 
favour of a new machine with 
(to them) an unfamiliar proces¬ 
sor and only the same memory 
. . . unless the other attractions 
of MSX — the built-in facilities 
for Peripheral Overkill, video, 
stereo, music, etc. — tempt 
them away. As for the other 
machines . . . it's hard to say. 
Acorn's Electron has now 
established itself, and Oric can 
probably do without Brit sales 
altogether, being Big In 
France. Enterprise? It looks as 
pretty as any MSX machine, 
and will expand in as many 
ways, while its memory possi¬ 
bilities appear to be much 
higher. 

The real potential for MSX 
appears to lie with those pun¬ 
ters who have still not bought 
any sort of computer at all: for 
them, the massive inter¬ 
compatibility, the sexy looks 
and the proven record of Nip- 
Ware generally may well (as 
the MSX folks hope) clinch any 
number of over-the-counter 
deals. 

HARDWARE 

AT THE time of writing, only 
one (count it) machine — a 
Toshiba HX-10 — has been 
made available to computer 
magazines for hands-on ex¬ 
perience. (The SAME Toshiba 
HX-10!) In due course our turn 
came around; and this is what 
we found. 

The machine is low, flat and 
pretty, about the proportions 
of the Beeb in all dimensions 
save front-to-back. It has a full- 
stroke keyboard with slightly 
rattly keys (all those journalists 
thumping away are probably 
bad news in the wear-and-tear 
departments). Several things 
stand out: the sensible 
arrangement of arrow keys; 
the use of colour-coding; the 
five (shiftable) function keys; 
and the i/o ports for video and 
stereo, clear signs of bolt-ons 
and interfaces to come; and 


the large ROM port on the top 
right of the machine. 

No manual accompanied 
our (everybody's) Toshiba, so 
we had to grope our way 
around a bit. Power-up pro¬ 
duces the Microsoft MSX logo, 
followed by a pale blue Atari/ 
CBM type screen, with 
keyword labels (produced by 
the function keys) along the 
bottom of the screen. Typing 
in is fast and easy — and, de¬ 
spite the rattly keys, precise 
and pleasant. The BASIC is rec- 
ognisably Microsoft, extreme¬ 
ly user-friendly, and the editor 
is slick and fast (Atari-style). 
Arrow keys move the cursor 
around the screen very quickly 
without the use of Control. 

There are 16 colours, de¬ 
fined by the COLOR state¬ 
ment; sprites of potentially 
huge size, defined by the 
SPRITE statement; and four 
screen modes: two text, one 
hi-res (256 x 192), and one 
multi-colour mode where all 
16 colours can be put on the 
screen at one time on a 64 x 48 
grid. The 32 possible sprites 
are stored in the 32K of ROM. 

All this makes the reviewed 
machine (at least) very 
Commodore-like in spec., and 
considerably better in looks 
and in the not insignificant 
matter of the BASIC. 

SOFTWARE 

REPORTS RECEIVED from the 
Land of the Rising Yen indicate 
that, in the matter of games so 
far produced for the MSX 
machines (on ROM and cas¬ 
sette), the Japanese have 
come up with their usual set of 
beautifully-coded clunkers: 
blood and thunder, childish 
and deeply unsatisfactory. 
'They're terrible," Quick- 
silva's Mark Eyies recently told 
BIG K, "but what we and other 
British software companies 
are doing with the machines 
will change all that." OS of 
course are deeply committed 
to supporting MSX (they've 
had an early machine for six 
months now), as are Thorn- 
EMI (Creative Sparks), Virgin, 
Ocean, Kuma, Artie, CDS, Bug- 
Byte, and Silversoft. With 
others to follow, no doubt, 
Kuma already have a utility 
out, and other houses are 
variously planning release of 
their first titles just before 
Christmas. 


CONCLUSIONS 

THE CYNICAL view is that 
while compatibility is a con¬ 
summation devoutly to be 
wished, the Z80/64K standard 
is a heavy case of too-little-too- 
late (an MSX II based on the 
68000 and 128K would be 
something else again). Also, 
the sexy packaging and the 
price all combine to make the 
MSX machines a first-user's 
choice. So it seems certain that 
anybody who, at the time of 
writing, doesn't yet own a 
computer but wishes they did, 
'may well go in for it in an in¬ 
creasingly big way (this repre¬ 
sents a consensus of views in 
the industry as well). However 
the MSX standard holds little 
of excitement for those of you 
(most of you) who already own 
a machine. Besides,there'sthe 
viewpoint that by fossilising 
operating system standards 
around an elderly if useful chip 
and an upper memory limit of 
64K, the MSX people are 
actually holding back the pace 
of innovation. Then again, it 
could be said that the pace of 
innovation is so fast, and 
obsolescence such a built-in 
factor for ANY new computer, 
that for the sake of the poor 
punter (who has to pay for it all 
at the end of the day), it's just 
as well that somebody has at 
last taken a stand. 


This time next year we'll 
know all the answers . . . and 
by then, no doubt, we'll be 
starting to hear about MSX II 
— and the whole business will 
be starting up all over again. 


WHAT WOULD 
YOURMSX6 
SPEC. BE? 

Imagine you’re in the enviable posi¬ 
tion of being able to dictate a new, 
all-purpose world personal compu¬ 
ter standard—to cost no more than 
£300. 

Z80? 6502? 6809? 68000? 
8088? 

64K?128K? Or perhaps 256K (to 
take advantage of the new genera¬ 
tion of chips)? 

Draft your requirements, includ¬ 
ing as much other info (i/o ports, bus 
parameters, etc,), plus a short writ¬ 
ten explanation of your thinking, 
and send it — with a sketch if you 
like — to: BIG K (msx), IPC Maga¬ 
zines, Kings Reach Tower (2035), 
Stamford St., London SE1 9LS. 

The best ideas will get printed, 
and their originators will get a lucky 
dip from the BIG K MYSTERY 
SOFTWARE HOARD. So be sure 
to include details of any compu- 
ter(s) you own.,. 




































COMIt^SOON... 




Tim great new g»nesfMiK 

CREATIVE SPARKS 



^OALIrp 




eoMPmm-m 


incVAT £ 16.95 


ARCADE 
PROFESSIONAL 


Pinfold Lane Industrial Estate, Bridlington, N. Humberside 

Tel: 0262-602541 

i Telex: 527381 EMAX G i 


ALL JOYSTICKS: 
COMMODORE, ATARI, 
SPECTRUM COMPATIBLE 
AND BBC TO ORDER 


ACCESS ACCEPTED 


CONTACT US OR NEAREST COMPUTER STORE 


inc VAT £ 28.95 









































le 





AT LAST 1 TAPE 2 MACHINES 





0000itSt^ 000**-^ 


,1®#^ 

#1111 tio 

I %iiA0SS^\ht 

^ $1 ^4 ii 


*'5 

d4AAi^ 44A ^3 


COMMODORE 64 VIC 20 


MINIPEDES 

It is the height of summer and the 
garden is buzzing with bees and 
bugs. Minipede, a mutant 
mushroom monster advances 
relentlessly towards you, 
devouring everything in its path. 15 
screens of fast and furious action 
make Minipedes a real challenge to 
the arcade enthusiasts. 
Commodore 64 - VIC 20 16K 

J.S. or K.B. £5.95 


TOM THUMB 

Tom is trapped in a scrolling maze 
populated by loathsome creatures, 
guardians of the lost treasures of 
the Magezam. Six separate 
screens, five levels of difficulty and 
four player option provide an 
exciting challenge for the whole 
family. Another stunner from the 
author of BONGO! 

(1 to 4 players) 

Commodore 64 - VIC 20 16K 

J.S. £5.95 


Experience the thrills of the gambling of the 

world from the comfort of your own armchair. Both 
versions include features such as spinning reels, hold, 
number-feature nudges, gamble/collect, spin score and 
hl-score. The Commodore 64 version has additional 
features, nudge, reward lucky 3, step-a-win and hi- 
score tables. 

As with anv arcade machine the odds are stacked 


against you I 

Commodore 64 - VIC 20 16K K.B. £5.95 



J.S. AND KEYBOARD 
£7.95 


J.S. 

£7.95 


J.S. AND KEYBOARD 
£5.95 


J.S. or KEYBOARD 
£7.95 


J.S. 

£7.95 


COMMODORE 64 VIC 20 


£/VQty//?/£S. ANIROG SOFTWARE LTD. 29 WEST HILL DARTFORD KENT (0322)92513/8 

MAIL ORDER: 8 HIGH STREET HORLEY SURREY 24 HOUR CREDIT CARD SALES HORLEY (02934) 6083 
PAYMENT BY CHEQUE P.O. ACCESS/VISA 50p POSTAGE & PACKAGING 























































^Whichever machine you own, if you have 
the vaguest tendency towards adventure 

playing then you must try one of th-- 

(unfortunately you’ll probably end 


__ . . . - up wanting 

to buy the lot!).** 

Computing Today, August 84 

^To me, all Level 9 adventures create a 
remarkable atmosphere because the 
desrriDtions sound so life-like. This is where so 

many other adventures fail.*! 

Crash, July 84 

Lgut it’s not just the size of the game it’s the 
auality as well that is astonishing 

TSestofirethe -.n.«n^^ 

L Ac in all Level 9’s adventures, the real 
nl^sme comes not from scortng points but m 

^7o”n9 the world 

and learning a o Micro?, Febniarv 84 

» « -year. 

ms 
m 
I 

ptember 83 


las*. aaf^J^tes ate 






Adventure Quest 


Level 9 Computing 


tu^roltVtebe^ 
„ablV*«?Sfrhas don't’' 

. Q - arS«»T^ the L3K " ‘ ^\din9 

, 'rre-^maglnatlne. 

tiSNOVJB'^\nJSenyv^do^^'ntU''^' 

' March 84 

Vo«rComP“«*- 


mm 


Level 9 specialise in 
huge adventure games, 
cramming over 900 locations and a host of 
puzzles into your micro. We take care when 
designing games—writing th em like stories 
with detailed settings and 


sensible reasons for the 
puzzles. They are solved by 
inspiration— not luck. 


I 




i 


r 


Adventure Quest is tlie second in Level 9’s 
acclaimed Middle Eartli trilogy, though it 
can be played by itself, 


Available from W H Smith and good computer 
shops everywhere. If your local dealer doesn't 
stock Level 9 adventures yet, get him to 
contact us or: Centresoft, Microdealer UK, 
Ferranti & Craig, Leisuresoft, Lim# Tree, LVL, 
PCS, R & R or Wonderbridge. 


1. COLOSSAL ABVENTURE The 

classic mainframe game 
“Adventure”, with all the original 
puzzles plus 70 extra rooms. 

a. ALVENTURE QUEST An epic 
puzzle journey through Middle 
Earth. 

3. DUNGEON ATVENTURE Over 
100 puzzles to solve and 40 
treasures to find. 

4. SNOWBALL Save the interstar 
freezer, Snowball 9, in a huge space 
adventure with over 700 locations. 
8. LORDS OF TIME An 
imaginative romp through World 
History. 


I ENCLOSE A CHEQUE/PO FOR ^9.90 
EACH 


My name: .. 
My address . 


□ My micro is a:, 


□ 


MEMOIECH BBC CBM 64 SPECIKUM ORICl LYNX NASCOM AX& 


(one of those listed below, 
with at least 32K of memory). 
Contact: 

LEVEL 9 COMPUTING 

Dept. K , 229, Hughenden Road, 
High Wycombe, Bucks. HP 13 SPG. 

r;Ti 












































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'f*''’9/e 

^9er 




:.:Jj 




-PLAYING AREA- 


Jurm9 




area of 30 sq feet 

^ ^ •. .to area of this planet world) 

^ ah vour screen windo w you o^’^'V ^ Alligata Software Ltd 

(throug _______ ^55^^ 1 Orange Street, Sheffield SI 4DW Tel: (0742) 755796 


feav 

p\aying 

• (through your s< 




Please supply Tape/Disk (delete as necessary) 

I enclose a cheque/PO* fort- 

Charge nny Access_ 

Card No. _ 

Name _ 

Signature _ 

Address _ 


•Payable to Alligata Software tAllow 75p for post and packaging 


Despatch is normally made on receipt of order and should reach you within 7 days 
Send for full colour brochure (enclose a stamp) 

H 


jmmm 


I Software Limited 











































>f|;.-^«»^'^eaxe»'“ 




co'ColsS 


^°f\\ 0 V\a'^®J\'(V\ c9?. 

aod \oad 


PRESENTS.. 


Once in a while, a ^ 

game arrives at the BIG K 

ottices that is so splendid, 

formidable and exquisitely 

designed that we sink to 

our Knees in awe before ~ 

dashing off to pen a rave~ 


UJiiBlS 


review. Then there's the 

other kind... 


Connoisseurs of the Infinite: STEVE 
KEATON, RICHARD BURTON, NICKY 
XIKLUNA, KIM ALOIS and TONY TYLER 


TIME PILOT 

(CBS-COLECO) 

Remember the vintage arcade 
game (can't remember who by) 
where two biplanes wheeled and 
soared in the dawn Flanders sky (it 
says here), potting each other? An 
easy seven years ago, wasn't it? 
Atari used it as the basis for the 
Combat freebie you once got with a 
VCS; now here it is again. What 
was ace seven years ago has mel¬ 
lowed with age. Wheel and soar, 
yawn and bore, nod out, drift away 
and dream of pink sugar houses. 
Almost fit for the Adam. — T. T. 































B.CBILL 

(IMAGINE) BBC 


(LEGEND) 


Instrvdions for use 


PI-EYED 

(AUTOMATA) 


You know Automata, those 


JUMBO JET PILOT (thorn-emd 


Most farcical flight sim in the western 
hemisphere, this early and vintage turkey 
from the (then) Thorn group provided abso¬ 
lutely zilch inside the best packaging ever 
seen. Apart from the control panel — 
which, though digital, was functional—the 
thing is so unrealistic as to be laughable. 
Start takeoff and EIGHT MINUTES LATER 
you reach the apparently necessary takeoff 
speed of, wait for it, 270 mph. Translating 
this into real terms, by my reckoning, and 
starting at runway 3 of Heathrow, you'd be 
at the infamous Talgarth Road traffic jam 
before wheels-up. Tough on the commu- 
tersl After this promising start, you then 
find that virtually any control sends you 
into the deck. Tough on the passengers! 
Tough on the purchasers, too. — T.T. 




Rebel 


: e Reje- -R'aj-hoP^tP o 


wonaerrui wacKy people wno are 
trying to stamp out violence in 
computer games and produce 
only good wholesome family 
games. Well, here's a 'whole¬ 
some' little product for your 
Spectrum: 

First you've got to run Pi-Man 
through heavy traffic and into as 
many pubs as possible. He then 
cannot leave a pub before he has 
drunk every pint in the bar. Points 
are deducted for Jogging other 
drinkers, slipping in beer slops, 
tripping over dogs or treading in 
'certain substances' that are 
graphically depicted on the pub 
floor. 

Once every drop (of ale) is 
supped its back out into the traffic 
for more fun and m^hem. — Rj . 


You thought the other games 
were in bad taste, but wait till you 
see the bile green screen and 
pimple-puce graphics of BC BUI 
coming at you. This game is utter¬ 
ly and stunningly . .. mediocre. 

B.C. possesses a single, erudite, 
social skill ~ the ability to bash 
women over the head with his 
club, and drag them off home by 
the hair. He must then carry on 
clubbing, in an effort to feed his 
wives and increasing number of 
sprogs. But before any macho 
types 'go ape' with this sudden 
license to unfettered chest thump 
— take this, you brutes. The 
game's about as exciting as a dai¬ 
ly soujorn from Esher in a bid to 
meet the Mothercare tab for a 
family of four. — N.T. 


This highly hyped, over-rated, over-priced turkey is clearly a classic 
example of the Emperor's new clothes. Despite being hugely unin¬ 
teresting and AGONISINGLY SLOW to play it's managed to gross 
over 2 million pounds! It's enough to make you weep. 

We're told it's a 'computer movie'. That characters do pretty 
much what they like. What we're not told is that the graphics are so 
poor these figures are nigh on unrecognisable. They just shuffle 
back and forth across the screen like minuscule roaches. The guests 
are equally naff, being bothpointless and boring. What on earth (or 
in Asgard) is the attraction? Game of the year? Pshaw! If you ask me^ 
it should be placed in a chest and left in Hell. — S.K. _ 

\Nhat af® jpc 

fndp® 

most 

so**'' 

+ that WC tinUT 

room* a SOfi'^ 











































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PRINT Ai »,.H.' 
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=ili IF a$(a+i)="1" then let 


^?SS Pp^lLlTitTi'' then let 5C = 


w 


Dontcha just hate those Heineken Ducks? 
Now's your chance to get your own back. 
Blast the waterfowl and anything else. 
Shoot boxes for points. Husband your 
ammo to qualify for bonus points at the end 
of the level. 

CONTROLS: Z = LEFT; X = RIGHT; 
SPACE = FIRE (can be redefined if desired). 

VARIABLES: SC = SCORE; L = LEVEL; 
A$ = TOP TARGETS; B$ = BOTTOM 
TARGETS; A = GUN POSITION; B = BUL¬ 
LETS REMAINING; Y$ = REDEFINABLE 
'FIRE'; Z$ = REDEFINABLE LEFT; X$ = RE- 
DEFINABLE RIGHT; HI = HI-SCORE; H$ = 
SCORER'S INITIALS. 


For SPECTRUM 48 B 












































THEN LET SC; 

then let SC= 

‘ SCORE = ", SC: 


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338 RETURN ■ ' 

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BULLEt's^LEFT- HfiVE NO 

.T:s''^ Pw^f'T TRB 5: "SCORE " ; :=,r- tst 

TTL’^-^. ' CO TO fiF0 

Jf^ 5::."£RH3S any KEY" 

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SCORE 

ililliiiiiiillil I j , . . . j . j ^ _ 


ii 


^8K< By RYAN MILLS 




















































Chris Tattsnt presents. 


^See the 
best 

games you 
can buy in 
full colour 
action! > 


Featuring: I— 

Spectrum • BBC Micro » Comm«nn»T!T 


Great video offer! 

CHRIS TARRANT battles his way through 
twenty-one mind-boggling computer 
games in an originai video programme. 

It’S fast and furious fun—and it’s aiso an 
invaiuabie guide to the best computer 
software on the market. 

"A smash hit!" ( TVCamert ...Only 

’Mind boggling ” {SundayPost « « ^ oe t 
’Revel in Chris Tarrant! ” {Big w 11 Z.1S5 ! 


TO: CHRIS TARRANT VIDEO OFFER 
Department CTV1, Rochester x, KentME99iAA. 

Please send me.copy/copies of the video at 

£12.85 each (inc. VAT, p&p). Pleaseallow 28 days for delivery. 

Tickformatrequired:vHSn BetamaX □ 

Total cost: 

Name (blocklettersi. 

Address. 

.Telephone. 

I enclose cheque/PO No. value 

£.(Cheque payable to IPC Magazines Ltd) 

I wish to order by Access or Barclaycard 
A/c no: 


Signature. 

Access and Barclaycard holders may order direct by 
telephoning 0634 407380 at any time. 


Chris Tarrant Video Offer, Department CTV1, Rochester X, Kent ME99 1AA 



STACK 100 LIGHTPEN ■ £28.75 gives your computer eyes! 

Available for: CBM 64, VIC 20, BBC/B, ATARI 

SLR 

(SUCK iiam RIFLE) Iff just two of the exciting 

PRODUCTS IN THE STACK 100 RANGE 


Available for the CBM 64, VIC-20 and 48K 
Sinclair Spectrum, this quality rifle comes 
complete with three exciting games and 
connects to your computer with 12 feet of 
cable. The SLR puts you in a different 
league. 


£29.95 


CBM 64 Accessories 

Cartridges:- 

HELP - over 20 extra commands, disassembler and 
machine code monitor, DOS £28.75 
SUPERHELP • as ‘HELP’ but with a comprehensive 
2 pass assembler £40.25 

ARROW - loads and saves a 32K program faster than 
a 1541 disk drive (use with 1530/C2N cassette deck) 

£33.35 

ARROW PLUS - as ‘ARROW’ but with a 
comprehensive 6502 assembler £44.85 

4-SLOT MOTHERBOARD - (switched) £33.35 
and a full range of printer interfaces. 


Please send me a Free brochure, price list and 
the address of my nearest stockist. 

Name. 

Address. 

E. & O.E. 

All prices are inclusive of VAT and delivery. 


STACK1OO 

CUSTOMER INFORMATION CENTRE 

290-298 Derby Road. Bootle. Liverpool L20 8LN 
Trade Enquiries: 051-933 5511 ask for Trade Sales 






























































48K Spectrum 


j^vailable soon for CBM 64 


ACTUAL SCREEN DISPLAYS 

The Most Graphical 
Arcade Simulation 
Ever Produced 


by CHRIS KERRY 


AVAILABLE FROM SELECTED BRANCHES OF: 


RETAILERS CONTACT: 

M/CRO DEALER UK Ltd 


If you have difficulty in obtaining your copy. Just fill in the Coupon below. 


Wgef trader 


WHSMITH 


Post coupon now to: Thor (Computer Software) Co. Ltd., 
Erskine Industrial Estate, Liverpool, 
Merseyside L6 lAP Tel: 051-263 8521/2 


makro 


ALSO AVAILABLE AT ALL 
USUAL SOFTWARE OUTLETS. 


I enclose Cheque/PO for £ 


CentreSoft 

PCS DISTRIBUTION 
Bulldog 


Name 


Address 


ItbEftjShHA-UT 


Credit Cards - Orders accepted by Phone 
051-263 8521/2 


DISTRIBUTORS AND OVERSEAS ENQUIRIES CONTACT PAUL 051-263 8521/2 



































1 19'? PI. AY 0,0,0,0 

M MX M M K M X X N « « « M « N ♦< M X M X M X M j|| . 

1 )0 PFv’ I N T: PR I N T : PR IN T CPIRi ( 4) ;^ CTIRI (^ / ) 

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300 REN * < c ) S. F T EL.D ING 1981,1984* . | I < T N T: PR I NT : PR I N T 

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7->00 PRINT- BETTING zFRINT 

101 o FOR X=^4 70643 047080 ||| " 

1020 READ Y ||| 2200 PRINT 

1030 POKE X,V ■ 2 '00 FOR AA== 1 10 6 

1040 NEXT X ,/ 7400 lET A(AA)=INT(RND<1)*050 tI) 

1 050 DA TA 0,0,0,1 6,16,31,31,24,0,0,8,15, ',7'' ^ ^ ^ ' 

I 5,56,56,24 ^ 

1 |()0 |•RINT(;:MR:t (4) ;GHRT(27) ; -N DOG RACING |;"| 2600 PRIN T 

(( ) C). F I T.l. D T Nf:) I 984 " : PR I N T r? 

2,:; 7f,20 MUSIC 1,4,AA,8 

(;HR1(4) ii; 

li? 2640 WAIT 100 

1 1 05 T<EAD V ;:ii ^ 

11 2700 MUSIC 1,4,AA+1,8 

1 I I p ] r V=^ 1 NTEN GO TO 1 I 99 Ol 

7;|| 2800 NEXT A A 

1115 MUSIC 1,3,V,9 

?|i 2900 PLAY 0,0,0,0 

l1,..o I/Liru no.., , + + + TAKE BET AND MONEY + + + 

I 1 .T. DA I A .1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,8,7,6,5,4,3 . v.- o. 

7,1 P, 1 ;||| 3000 PRINT:PRINT:PRINT 

1130 DATA 2,3,4,5,6,7p,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2, .f.'- 510 O INF'UT''WI ItCH DOG ";E 

:l ,7,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,8,7,4.,5,4 ,3,2,1, 1 

'88 





























































































3400 

3500 

3550 

3600 

3650 


3700 

Ih4G" 


IF E::;1 or E>6 then 3100 
PRINT:PRINT 

INPHT "HOW MUCH DO YOU BET . ";D 

REM ill SET UP SCREEN rOR RACE+++ 
CLS:PAPER O 
LORES 0 

INK5:PLGI O,O," DOG RAC 




4700 
4 BOO 
4900 
5000 
5<T05 
50 1 0 
5020 


5< T-iO 


5(1)40 
5050 
5 1 00 
52(j(') 
525(1) 
530(.') 
54 Od) 
5500 
56(:)(:) 
5605 
561 O 
5620 


FOR 001038: PLOTC, 2,18: NEXT 
FOR 0-01038:PLGTC,22,19;NEXT 
PLOT 3 , 1 , ''S” ; PLOT 36,1, "F " 

FOR O3T021: PLOT 36 , C NEX T 

K=4 

FOR X-1T06 
PI. 01 1,K,X 

lOL ( 3 
NEXT X 

FOR X-4T019STEP3 
PLOT 3,X,'':!’' 

NE X I X 

FOR C-3T021:PLOT 2,C,";":NEXT 
PLOT 10,12,"THEY'RE UNDER ORDERS" 
AB=3:AC=3;AD=3;AE=3:AF=3; AG=3 
WAIT 200 

MUSIC 1,4,6,9;WAIT 100 
MLISIC: 1,4,4,9; WAIT 100 
MUSIC 1,4,8,9;WAIT 25 
MUSIC 1,4,6,9;WAIT 100 


5630 PLAY 0,0,0,0 

5700 PLOT10,12," THEY'RE OFF 

5800 FOR C=1TO19;PRINT;NEXT 

5900 WAIT 250 

6000 PLOT 10,12," 

6500 REM +1 (-RACE ROUT I NE+ 

7()00 FOR z=rro2 
7 1 00 L ET■G < Z)=INT( RND( 1) «6 f 1 ) 
7200 IF G(2)=G(1) THEN 7100 


7400 

PLOr AB,4,32 


75(1)0 

LET AB-ABH 


7600 

PLOT AB,4,"i:!’ 


770(.:) 

IE AB=37 THEN 

1 1 (.J(J(.J 

7800 

WAIT 10 


7 9 (JO 

GOTO 7100 


80 (JO 

PLOT AC,7,32 


81 (J(.J 

LET AC-AC 1.1 


B2(J(J 

PLOT AC,7,"(;!" 


8300 

IF AC=37 THEN 

1 1 (J(J(J 


7300 ON G(Z)GOTO 7400,8000,8600,9200,980 
0 , .1 (1)4(")0 


CONTINUED PAGE 






































r 



8400 WAITIO 
8500 GGTG 7100 
8600 PLOT AD,10,32 
8700 LET AD=^AD4 l 
8800 PLOT AD,10,"C!" 

8900 IF AD==37 THEN 11000 
9000 WAITIO 
9100 GGTG 7100 
9200 PLOT AE,13,32 
9300 LET AE==AE4 l 
9400 PLOT AE, 13, " 1 " 

9500 IF AE=37 THEN 11000 

9600 WAIT 10 

9700 GOTO 7100 

9800 PLOT AF,16,32 

9900 LET AF=AF+1 

10000 PLOT AF,16,"C1" 

10100 IF AF=37 THEN llOOa 

1O150 WAIT10 

10200 GOTO 7100 

10400 PLOT AG,19,32 

10500 L.ET AG=:AG4 1 

10600 PLOT AG,19,"Cl" 

10700 IF AG=37 THEN 11000 

10750 WAITIO 


11000 NEXT Z 

11050 REM i-i+END OF RACE, LI ST 8. P.4 •+•■4 
11100 WAIT 300;CLS 

11200 PRINT:PRINT? PRINT:PRINT;PRINT:PRIN 
I ; PR I NT' 

1 1 300 l•■■•RIN rCHRT (4 ) ; Ch-IRT (27) ; " J IN A NOME 
NT" THE <3.. P. " : PR INTCHRT (4) 

1 T 400 WAI I 500; CI...S; PAPERO: I Nl< 1 

1 1 500 I INI (RND ( 1) * 104 1) 

1 1 600 W^ I NT" (RND ( 1 ) 604-1 ) 

11650 PRINT 

1 1700 PR I NT'CHi^' $ ( 4 ) ; CHRi- < 27) ; " J OR IC RAC I 
NG":PRINTCHRT(4) 

1 1 800 PR IN I": PR I NT : PR I N I": PR I NT T ; " : " ; W; " FI 
ARINGNEV" 

1 1900 PRINT; PRINT" 

12500 PR I NT"" 1 5t TRAP " ; G ( 1 ) ; " " ; A (G ( 1) ) 

; " / 1 " 

12600 PRINT : PRINT" 

12700 PRINT"2nd TRAP ";G(2);" ";A(G(2)) 

; "/I" 

12900 WAIT 400 

13000 CLS; PAPERO; I Nl<5 

13050 REM •i-4 4-haVE YOU WON ?4 4.4. 

13100 IF E=G(1)THEN GOTO 13300 ELBE 1320 
0 

13200 IF E=^G(2) THEN GOTO 13950 ELSE GOT 
0 14490 


10800 GOTO 7100 


13300 PR I NT; PR I NT": PR I NT; PR INF; PR I NT"; PR IN 
T;PRINT 









































1 3400 PR I NTCi IR:^; (4 ) ; CKIR^!;: (27) ; •* N 

* K ** «• x-.ft *.. PRINTCHR:^; ( 4) 

1 3420 PR I NT CHR:$: (4 ) ; CHR;t: (27) ; ■' N V( i( j 

NAVE COME F I RS T " : PR I NTCFIRT:: ( 4 ) 

1 3440 r'RI NT Cl- IR^. ( 4 ) ; Cl- IR* ( 27) ; " N x-s -k * 

*. *. * * it .* it- *. .i<. M „ p p p. ^ ^ 

1 3700 LET AF>=A (G ( 1 ) ) -x-D 

13800 PRINT:PR I NT:PRINT”VGU HAVE WON " ; 
AK 

13900 GGTG 14800 
13950 PAPER 6:INK4 

1 4000 C L... B; P R1 N T : RI N T: P R IN T : F‘ R IN T': f--' RIN T : 
PR I N r ; PR I NT; PR I NT s F'R I N T : PR I 

NT''YGI.I HAVE CGME SECGND" 

1 4200 Ar:>=A (G (2) ) xD/2 

14300 PRIN T s PR J NT"YGU HAVE NGN ";AK 
14400 GGTG 14800 
14490 L S : I N L; 3: F-■ A F- E R 0 

14500 CLB:PRINT s PRINT:PR INT;PR IN T:PRINT s 
PI71 N T : F-RI N T : F'R I N T: PR I N T s PR I 

NT "YGU HAVE L.OST (SGRRY i ! ! ! ! ) " 

14800 WAIT 400 

14850 REN -I-I- I ANOTHER GG l 
14900 C; 1 ... S: PAF-'ER0: IN K 2 
14950 PRINT 

1 5000 PR INTCHR4: ( 4) ; CHR^: (27) ; " J WOULD YOU 
LIKE ANOTHER RACE ?":PRINT 

CHR4^ (4) 

15050 RESTORE 

15100 INPUT LT 


15200 IF LT-"YES" OR LT="Y"THEN 1900 

1 5300 PR I NT : PR I NT : PR I NT " GK THEN.BY 

E" 

15800 END 

15900 REN -1-4 4 INTRO PART 24 -I -4. 

16000 CLS:PAPERO:INK5:PRINT 

1 6100 PR INTCF IR:T (4 ) ; CHRT: (27) ; " N 
DGG RACING"n PRINTCHRT(4) 

16200 PR INTCF IRT ( 4 ) ; Cl- IRT (27) ; " N 
= - RR ]; NTCHR'-t: ( 4 ) 

16300 PRINT 

16400 F--' R IN T''' I n t. his q a m e , -v o n u s go -v- our s k 
ill to" 

16 5 F) 0 F' F-'^‘ IN T'' q u ess w F-i i c; h dog w i I I w i o 11"! 
f olIow." 

1 6600 F-- r-“\ IN T'' i n g r a c e , o i - c: o fn e sec o n d , I f -/ 
OLA vjin," 

1 6700 F-- RIN I "'' •(: F -i e n t h e b e t y o n p 1 a c go d o n t 
he dog" 

I6EI00 I-'RI NT "will be mul t. i p 1 i cod by the? S. 
I-',, which" 

16900 F-4-7INT"you will sGoe at tFie end of t 
he race," 

1 7000 F--' F-*: IN T '' I -f -y o la come s e c o n d , t h e n t F'l e 
bet yoLA" 

1 71 0 0 P RIN r '' p 1 a c e d w i 1 1 b e m n 11 i fi) 1 i e d b -v 
the S.P" 

1 7 20C) P F\’ IN T "and t. h e n h a 1 v e d . " 

1 /-j-OO l-'RINl" F-'r’ess ’ FlETUF’-s'N ' to continu 
0, and " 

1 7 40C) F--' R 1' N T " g o o d 1 la c . " 

17500 GET BAT 
17600 RETURN 










































THIS MONTH'S program, 
in stark contrast to the last 
three months, has noth- 
ing to do with 2D anima¬ 
tion. Instead the program 
works in 3 dimensions and 
is called a 3D Rotator. 

Basically it allows you to 
design a 3D object on paper; 
tap a few numbers into the 
old Spectrum and end up with 
a computer representation of 
the object on the TV screen 
— rather like user definable 
graphics but in three dimen¬ 
sions. Well, you might think, 
that's all very clever but 
what's the point of the whole 
exercise? The point is that at 
the touch of a key you can 
rotate the object around on 
the TV screen and took at it 
from another angle. Not only 
does this give a very nice 
demo of micro-graphics but 
also such animation can be 
very useful for integrating 
into home-brewed games. 
The program's been designed 
so that it's easy to put in your 
own programs and is able to 
draw a 'wire frame' repre¬ 
sentation of any object 
bounded by straight lines. 

The rotator is written in 
100% machine code but even 
so, because of the sheer 
complexity of the mathemat¬ 
ical formulas used to work out 
exactly what an object looks 
like from numerous different 
positions, the program isn't 
instant. I've used all the 
speeding up techniques I can 
think of in writing the pro¬ 
gram to make it run as quickly 
as possible. The result is that 
the program is fast enough 
to make a turning object look 
as if it is really rotating, rather 
than just 'jumping' from one 
position to the next. 

The amount of time the 
Spectrum takes to draw the 
object really depends on how 


that this program is for its 
larger memory sized brother 
only. Hard luck. 

Th6 machine code is a bit 
on the lenthy side it runs 
to about 1.25K. The machine 
code loader is shown in list¬ 
ing one. AIM!) you have to do 
is tap it in, RUN it and wait for 
a couple of minutes. You 
should then be greeted with 
a message advising you to 
SAVE the machine code to 
tape a couple of times 
using:-— 

SAVE "3D ROTATER" CODE 
58084,1308 

If you're unfortunate 
enough to get a message 
informing you about an error 
in one of the DATA lines then 
I'm afraid that you'll have to 
correct it and try again. 

So as not to compound you 
finger ache with another 
gigantic listing, the BASIC 
program which gives you the 
facility to actually enter the 
data for your own objects will 
not be published until next 
month. However, the actual 
rotating bit is complete so, 
meanwhile, to act as a dem¬ 
onstration of its capabilities, 
there's listing 2. This pro¬ 
gram sets up the data for a 
simple representation of an 
aeroplane which you can 
rotate about and so generally 
get the feel of the rotation 
functions. After typing it in 
and running it, you'll have to 
set your tape recorder to the 
start of the machine code 

recording. After that's loaded 

you'll be presented with a 
front, horizontal view of the 
plane. 

You'll no doubt be aware 
of how points In 2D space are 
represented using x and y co- 


nates are just as simple, the 
only difference being that you 
have to tag a z co-ordinate on 
the end of the other two. The 
third axis is at right angles to 
the first two i.e. if you draw x 
and y axis on a piece of paper 
then the z axis would pass 
through the paper. In this 
prog ram, positive z val ues g o 
into the page and negative 
ones out of the page. Listing 
2 allows you to rotate the 
plane around the x, y and z 
axis using, not surprisingly, 
the X, y and z keys. Pressing 
caps-shift and one of the 
rotation keys fi.e. the capital 
of the letter) resulsts in neg¬ 
ative rotation in the appropri¬ 
ate axis. Notice how all 
rotation takes place about the 
point of origin, where all the 
axes intersect. The program 
itself is able to rotate an object 
with a resolution of just 2 
degrees. Therefore, In each 
axis, you can view the plane 
from some 180 different 
views. In total there are 
5,832,000 (180 3) possible 
aspects on each designed 
object! 

It's all very well having a 
resolution of 2 degrees, but if 
you want to turn an object 
over quickly then it would 
take ages because of the 
number of times the object 
has to be re-drawn in its jour¬ 
ney. To remedy this, you can 
change how many (multiples 
of 2) degrees the object 
rotates each time you press a 
rotation key — by just press¬ 
ing the appropriate digit key. 
the program will go into a 
demonstration mode if you 
press'd', where the plane is 
automatically rotated around 
by the computer. Demo mode 
can be terminated with key 
'e'. Again, the speed of rota¬ 
tion can be varied with the 
digit keys. 


RICHARD TAYLOR delves into the 
innermost depths of the Z80 chip 
and delivers a stunning rotatable 
3D wire-frame package. 

For 48K Spectrum owners only. 


complicated it is i.e. how 
many lines it is composed of. 
Now, before I continue, 1 feel 
I should warn all 16K owners 


ordinates. Well, 3D co-ordi- 




Rota 






























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ADVERTISEMENT INDEX 



. 2 

Acorn . 

. 50,51 

Ariti\/iQinn . 

. 9 

Addictive Games . 

. 70 

agf . 

. 57 

AllinPitPi . 

. 81 

Anirnn . 

. 79 

Ai itnmpitpi . 

. 13 


.Ill 


.19 


.45 

rr;i . 

.112 

PhonnpIR . 

.. . 107 

Phpptah . 

. 106 

Pnmmnrinrp . 

. 32,33 

Consumer Electronics . 

. 7 

Prpptivp Snarks . 

. 78 

Pi 1 rrp h . 

. 10 

Discount Computer . 

. 62 

Dnmprk . 

. 45,47 

Dream Software . 

. 47,49 

Elite . 

. Cover 2 

F11 romPY . 

. 78 

Front Runner (K-TEL) . 

. 49 

Af hDimpn^^inn . 

. 58 

Pprnnvip . 

. 94 

Hutchinson (Lone Wolf) . 

. 28,29 

Hutchinson (Computer Wimp) . 

. 44 

Ipon . 

. 31 

Interceptor. 

. Cover 3 


Legend . 

1 ck\/ol Q .. 

. 36,37 

. 80 

^/lQr^Qca\/o . . 47 

Mirrndppl . 

.. Cover 4 

Mirrnmpnip . 

. 18 

Micro Workshop . 

IVll q . 

.70 

.43 

Mr Mirrn . 

.105 

Nat West . 

.21 

Mphi 1 Ipp . 

.99 

ppqi . 

. 70 

PhnpniY . 

. 110 

Ram Electronics . 

RpmipmPn . 

. 26 

. 98 

. 

. 55 

Qiiipp Shnn . 

. 65 

Software Index . 

Software Projects . 

Rn 1Pr RnftwP rp . 

. 44 

. 96,97 

. 63 

Qtar'U' ... 

. 86 

Q\/ctom . . 64 




. 103 


. Q7 

jhor . 


X/in PirlHpnQ . 

. 38 

Video Offer (ChrisTarrant) . 

. 86 

Weetabix . 

. 71 



5 

6 
7 

'8 

9 

10 
11 
(12' 
13 



MAIL ORDER ADVERTISING 

British Code of Advertising Practice 

Advertisements in this publication are required to conform to 
the British Code of Advertising Practice. In respect of mail order 
advertisements where money is paid in advance, the code 
requires advertisers to fulfil orders within 28 days, unless a 
longer delivery period is stated. Where goods are returned 
undamaged within seven days, the purchaser's money m ust be 
refunded. Please retain prooif of postage/despatch, as this may 
be needed. 

Mail Order Protection Scheme 

If you order goods from Mail Order advertisements in this 
magazine and pay by post in advance of delivery, BIG K will 
consider you for compensation if the Advertiser should become 
insolvent or bankrupt, provided: 

(l)You have notreceivedthegoodsorhadyourmoneyreturned; 


14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 : 

22 

23 

24 

25 1 

26 

27 

28 

29 1 

30 


and 

(2)You write tothePublisherof BIG Ksummarising the situation 
not earlier than 28 daysfrom thedayyousentyourorder and not 

later than two months from that day. 

Please do not wait until the last momentto inform us. Whenyou 
write, we will tell you how to make your claims and what 
evidence of payment is required. 

We guarantee to meet claims from readers made in accordance 
with the above precedence as soon as possible after the 
Advertiser has been 
declared bankrupt or insolvent. 

This guarantee covers only advance payment sent in direct 
response to an advertisement in this magazine not, for example, 
payment made in response to catalogues etc., received as a 
result of answering such advertisements. Classified advertise¬ 
ments are excluded. 
































































































spectrum, BBC 


SP 


BBC. 64 


ZX 81. ELEC 


Electron, O.R 


Oric 


^Dedicated 

Consoles) 


yiOtOGMj® 


(Retad) 



SP 

64 

BBC 

ELEC 

V?0 

OP 

Price 

1 20 

SABRE WULF 

Ultimate 







£9.95 

2 1 

JET SET WILLY 

Software Projects 







£5.95 

3 — 

MATCH POINT 

Psion 







£7.95 

4 2 

PSYTRON 

Beyond 







£7.95 

3 — 

BEACH HEAD 

Access/US Gold 


* 





£9.95 

5 — 

MUGSY 

Melbourne House 







£6.95 

7 

LORDS OF MIDNIGHT 

Beyond 







£9.95 

3 3 

FIGHTER PILOT 

Digital 







£7.95 

3 8 

FLIGHT PATH 737 

Anirog 


* 



* 


£7.95 

'9 4 

CODE NAME MAT 

Micromega 







£6.95 

] 5 

TRASHMAN 

New Generation 


* 





£5.95 

2 10 

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 

Thor 







£5.95 

3 9 

BLUETHUNDER 

. Richard Wilcox 


♦ 




* 

£5.50 

4 6 

BLADE ALLEY 

PSS 







£5.95 

5 16 

SOLO FLIGHT 

MicroProse 


* 





£14.95 

6 — 

WAR OF THE WORLDS 

CRL 







£7.95 

7 11 

ZAXXAN 

Starzone 







£5.50 

'8 — 

SHEEP IN SPACE 

Llamasoft 


* 





£7.50 

■9 7 

SPACE PILOT 

Anirog 







£7.95 

■D — 

VALHALLA 

Legend 

* 

* 





£14.95 

:i 26 

ANTICS 

Bug-Byte 

* 






£5.95 

2 19 

ATICATAC 

Ultimate 

* 






£5.50 

3 12 

NIGHT GUNNER 

Digital 

* 






£6.95 

4 — 

HULK 

Adventure International 

* 

* 

* 

* 



£9.95 

5 18 

CAVELON 

Ocean 

* 

* 





£6.90 

'.0 — 

TORNADO LOW LEVEL 

Vortex 

* 






£5.95 

'7 — 

AD ASTRA 

Gargoyle 

* 






£5.95 

? ■ — 

BLAGGER 

Alligata 


* 





£7.95 

9 14 

MANIC MINER 

Software Projects 

* 

* 





£5.95 

3 — 

LOCO 

Alligata 


* 





£7.95 


mugsy 
(Melbourne House) 
JETPAC ^ 

(Ultimate) 
SNOOKER 
(Visions) 

empires 

J^perial Software) 

greedy dwarf 

(Goldstar) 

ghouls 

(Micro Power) 


Compiled by MRIB Computer 


ij 

2 

'3 

4 

5 

6 
7 

9 

10 
11 
12 


( 1 ) 

( 2 ) 

(7) 

(16) 

(4) 
( 10 ) 
(13) 
(3) 

(5) 
(30) 
( 11 ) 

( 6 ) 


13 (19) 

14 (8) 

45 (14) 

16 (22) 

17 (9) 

18 (12) 

19 (25) 

to (28) 

21 (17) 

22 (29) 

23 (15) 


l™"i the i„p.se||i„ 

fhak! 

(Aardvark) 
micro OLYMPICS 

(New Generation) TOWER OF EVIL 

(Creative Sparks) 


I fnail-order games 

KINGDOM VALLEY 
(Bug-Byte) 


PITFALL 2 (Activision) 

POLE POSITION (Atari) 

CRYSTAL CASTLES (Atari) 
GALAXIAN (Atari) 

FROSTBITE (Activision) 

FROGGER (Parker) 

DONKEY KONG (CBS/Coleco) 

MARIO BROTHERS (Atari) 

SUPER COBRA (Parker) 

PAC MAN (Atari) 

POPEYE (Parker) 

SPACE SHUHLE (Activision) 
PITFALL (Activision) 

RIVER RAID (Activision) 

MS PAC MAN (Atari) 

SPACE INVADERS (Atari) 

DEATH STAR BAHLE (Parker) 
PHOENIX (Atari) 

DECATHLON (Activision) 

SNOOPY VS. THE RED BARON (Atari) 
DIG DUG (Atari) 

MOON PATROL (Atari) 

ENDURO (Activision) 

Q-BERT (Parker) 

COOKIE MONSTER MUNCH (Atari) 
BIG BIRD EGG CATCH (Atari) 

ALPHA BEAM (Atari) 

TUTANKHAM (Parker) 

KANGAROO (Atari) 

BATTLE ZONE (Atari) 

Compiled by MRIB Computer 


PHAROE'S CURSE 
(Hesware) 

SKIING 

(Goldstar) 
dune rider 

(Micro Power) 

trashman 

(New Generation) 
SLURPY 

(Creative Sparks) 


24 (18) 


25 (21) 


26 (24) 


27 (20) 


28 (27) 


(26) 


30 (23) 




















































■ muim 



Can Thor save Cute Chick from the hungiy dinosaur? Only you can heip. 
At first he oniy has to jump rocks and holes. Then he must jump and J 
duck, almost simultaneously, to avoid the logs and low hanging tree j 
limbs in the Petrified Forest. 

The only way Thor can get across the river is to hop on the turtles' backs 
These turtles sometimes get tired and submerge at the wrong moment 
much to Thor's dismayl To add to Thor's difficulties, his arch-enemy Fat 
Broad is waiting on the other side to ambush him. 

If Thor's timing is good, the Dooky Bird will help him over the lava pit. If 
he jumps the pit just when Dooky Bird is overhead, the prehistoric bird 
will pick him up and cany him across! 

Thor must build up plenty of speed during his downhill run before the 
cliff. Timing is crucial, too. If Thor's balance is off or he is too slow he 
will crash into the ravine or the face of the cliff. 

Once over the cliff, Thor faces his most difficuit challenge; the volcanic 


eruption. In addition to the obstacles on the ground, he is showered wit 
boulders from the sky. 

Once again Thor must cross the river on the turtles' backs. Then, at last 
he must face the dinosaurl 

If Thor can get past the dinosaur and into the cave, he has only a short 
way to go to rescue Cute Chick. On his way, Thor must duck under 
stalagtites and jump over stalagmites to avoid crashing. 

If Thor does crash, don't worry; he has five wheels. But True Love is 
Tallinn all vour aailitv and cunnina to help him rescue Cute 




Softwai« Projects Limited, Beai1>rand Complex, Alleiton Road, Woolton, Liverpool L25 7SF, 
Telex: 627520 Telephone: 051-428 9393 (4 lines). 



% 1 

^ J 


1 

.fT 

M ® 1 

© 1 







































THE FOLLOW-UP TO THE NUMBER 1 
COMMODORE 64 GAME MANIC MINER 

Miner Willy, intrepid explorer and nouveau-riche socialite, has been 
reaping the benefits of his fortunate discovery in surbiton. He has a 
yachtr a clifT-top mansion, an Italian housekeeper and a French cook, 
and hundreds of new found fHends who REALLY know how to eriioy 
themselves at a party. 

His housekeeper, Maria, however, takes a very dim view of all his 
revelry, and finally after a particularly boisterous thrash she puts her 
foot down. When the last of the louts disappears down the drive in his 
Aston Martin, all Willy can think about is crashing out in his 
four-poster. But Maria won't let him into his room until ALL the 
discarded glasses and bottles have been cleared away. 

Can you help Willy out of his dilemma? 

He hasn't e>q>lored his mansion properly yet (it IS a large place and he 
HAS been VERY busy) and there are some very strange things going on 
in the further recesses of the house (I wonder what the last owner WAS 
doing in his laboratory the night he disappeared). 

You should manage O.K. though you will probably find some loonies 
have been up on the roof and I would check down the road and on the 
beach if 1 was you. 

Good luck and don't worry, all you can lose in this game is sleep. 


^nu a large siampeo aaaressed 
envelope for more detailed 
information on our new releases, 
plus a free large poster. 


- Please send me a copy of 
BC'S QUEST FOR TIRES □ £9.95 
JETSETWILLY □ £7.95 


Please tick 
where applicable 


All sales enquiries to: 

Colin Stokes p 

(Sales and Naiketing) 

For nail Order only: 

Software Projects, P.O. Box 12 
if. L25 7AF 



I enclose cheque/PO for.. 

(Please add £1.00 for orders outside UK) 

Access Card No... 

Name.. 

Address... 


L 


Software Projects Limited, Bear Brand Complex, 
AJlerton Road, Woolton, Merseyside L25 7SP 




























































ots are designed to 
destroy magnetic 
S' activate when- a 
is in range. 


Installed daring a brief period of 
industrial activity these tremen¬ 
dously powerful asteroid crushers 
are still operational 


This disused^ 
been blocks 
gratings. It lei 


Sources have revealed that F, S. S. Columbus 
has since been drained of fuel It will there¬ 
fore be necessary to dock the Liberator with 
the Columbus and transfer the remaining 
Plutonium gathered on the planet surface 
before exit from Meganorma is attempted. 


Price £7.S0. We pay postage and VAT and 
Guarantee despatch of your order within 
2 hours of it reaching ns. 


PARTIAL GEOLOGICAL OF 3110 QUADRANT PLANET MEGANORMA 


The Federation of Milky Way Systems has at lost obtained information leading 
to the location of the stolen F. S. A Columbus; the prototype Starcruiser 
designed to span the vast distance to the neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy. 
The ship is known to be hidden near the cote of the outlawed and heavily auto- 
defended planet in the 3rd Quadrant 'Meganorma'. A full geological map of 
the planet has now been obtained and a ship capable of penetrating the 
defences, the F. S. S. Liberator, has been specially built 


The F. M. W. S. Grand council is now making a Galaxy wide hunt for a young 
pilot capable of taking the F. S. S. Liberator into the core of Meganorma on one 
of the Federation's most important missions 

tort dump. 


ini 


•ywern. ^ ‘**»*«- 




It IS known that a six stage Force Field 
exists in the control room, maintained by 6 
stabilisers located in various positions 
arfiund Meganorma. After rendezvous 
each stabiliser in turn, return to the 
omibvl room to complete stabiliser de- 
StMtion. If successful a highlighted map 


ced entry to the astenod 
as resulted in the accu- 
of a large amount of 
these adjacent tunnels. 


Leading to the second control 
room teleport area this sectional 
passageway is inhabited by 
hovering Hammarons. „ 




mmimM 


NOW AVAILABLE FROM DEALERS 
NATIONWIDE 

OR ORDER DIRECT FROM:- 


Nebulae Software, Kilroot Park, 
Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim. BT38 7DD. 


wave will occur on an impact 
with the Liberator anywhere in 
Meganorma.) 


WARNING 
TO PIRATES 


1 


NEBULAE SOFTWARE IN ASSOCIATION 
WITH THE SOFTWARE REGISTRY (OF 
LINCOLNS INN FIELDS - LONDON) 
ARE PREPARED TO BACK LEGAL 
PROCEEDINGS WITH UP TO £100,000 
TO PROTECT THEIR COPYRIGHT 
SUBSISTING IN THE CONCEPTUAL 
DOCUMENTATION, CODING AND 
SCREEN DISPLAYS OF THE COMPUTER 
PROGRAM F.S.S. LIBERATOR. 




NOW FOR CBM64 & BBC 'B'. SOON FOR SPECTRUM, 
ATMOS, AM ST RAD & MSX. 


J 


PROGRAMMERS 



We are looking for freelance machine-code programmers to join our team. 
We are a growing company and have already secured significant levels of 
national and international distribution for our games, recreational and 
utility software. We have been asked by our distributors to extend our 
range of titles. We are prepared to lend equipment to programmers of high 
calibre. 

We are particularly interested in hearing from programmers who eitl^er 
have programs ready for, or who will be able to produce programs for 
MSX, Amstrad, Commodore, Spectrum and Atari. 

We package our products extremely well and have facilities to produce 
extensive documentation should this be necessary. 

The managing director will be pleased to give further information. Please 
telephone, or write to us in Basingstoke. 

Dream Software Ltd { Dept BKl ) 

PO Box 64 

Basingstoke RG21 2LB 
Tel: (0256) 25107 












































































SPECTRUM 


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^09 IP fll-l’ THEN uu ‘-- 

ril ss 45 Ti 0 B 

500 UL= =>-•3 1-25®''^''“'^' 

SSI tIt fIf-100® 

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?|l! IrInt ■;;«0 9 or,- , b-'- 

"il'i l-iolf 100 

aiiS G 040 

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p.4a.9:-a r.LS 

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, ' 2 . s, c's " i !-i p UT - . _ .0 i,,.- !. i 

Bob let bax--;’VH 

I 330i IP ‘-'“Ifi^lbai.'*.- 

i 300 t tE^ ‘;;=ae- 100 : 

1 3006 tc-T Lt 

1 i--1000 __ 


iRND* 


GO TO £U'f 
rHD*£0'■ ^ 

.BF0 

;i;,i let pi 

r i:RND* 905 ^, 
■DO you .uai 
taps 0!. 


i 10 t + f-- _ 

n 0 U h 3 V e 


PR IN 


8000 
8 6'3© 


GO TO 
GO TU 

i £ e n e u. '2 
•, q 0 u w a 
:■ 10 i P1 


-t-t t'T H 

"UOODs 


HOW a 
iii a n t 


e n e ffi y P 
,- 0 y e d '- 


then 


_v *fue 
■■(•■ 0 u b a 


‘cOU'aP'I 


37 LET,»=«. 

36 PRINl,. 

eib; 

■-■o. PPlIi'’. 
7 *fuelb ^ 

:1© PRUpP. ,4 

ill GO_.t. 0 

-.00 Lt -t , 
501 PRIN. 

.-. n u n t 0 X _ 

-2,p PRU'st 
503 GO TO 
300 pRR'hE 
001 RRplii 

want -- 


how 

buy 


t. h a V a 


f 0 0 d d 0 
















p. O X • 

,?'''l 09 £ 3 S 


iiir 

L fo./ 


£10000 
6803 I 


Money 
Fue '• 

R 3 t i 3 
P i 10 t £• 


INPUT 


i®?r let rat=rat 

I 3005 LET Bi 
I j;_00S PfiiJSE 
I 3007 SO rn 

I 2.?p® stop" 

I P p E ? ® S S U B 8 51 p 

r^^yp LET y=y+i:^£, 

^ i.p’.s,^ .ir_y=p then { 
000060 

8001 POKE USP; 
ot^0£ POKE U6R 
5003 POKE USP 

w^’0=^ Puke U;=^p 
S,!;5p y’SKE USP •■■-?■•'j. 
ot!0b pok.e’ i!=p : 

0007 POKE nsR ”^"1 

ssfi ?m sr ii% 

SSli t"T =i=q»i ■' 

f?|S 5sj5Tlgi« « 

- -i. il! L- C j Ui r:T 

p-^®l let q=q+£ 

Sfg? PR^NT AT m.q-.. 

l£l| 

:=: -1 =r .-..~. ^ ~ ~ ~ '^• 


T r b 
00 
c 0 £ t 


m ~ r h ^ 
100 
9000 


a to=:p lato-h 

OS 00 

"•^0.6IN 00 

'■■i 00011110 

10000100 
illlllli 
00001100 
■i 00000100 
j 00000000 
f 00000000 
PRUSE 10 

PRINT RT 


0 te = INT 

!RND#£5j 


8504 

8505 

8510 

8511 

8512 
8600 
8601 


Hen go to 860 


LET r|^ = TpT'' rp^!:'®f250000) 
LET q=T ■" 'Rf-JP#Hb0000) 

LET oj=£0 
SPTL'Rn 

- - PRINT rp T • !’^ K!RND * b) 
y,s f r0fii t he ■ ■ '■ “.- U* i ^ f. ■■ ■'e trn 

^voL^Sastroyed enSfL 

IfJJprtJt- let Pi 

PT" 2 i ^0 : ■■ ^'RSNT 

ntinue" ■ I fc--;- -any Key t,;, 

8604 IF INKEY* = "■• 

fill l?oi° 

y 000 CLS : print 

"Eneniu 

orr-' 

iiii miir .au.^ 

you uant 

|005 IP INKiv* = .... then go to 900 
3NKEY$ = "y then RRint 

GPV 


’Snefiig 


res curses : RT 

-- ! ffie=fiie -p i i 























b i 


i 


''Dex : a (p laya r 

24.; a (P laye r .. b) 

^Cha ; : a (p Laya r 

;£4 ; a (P laMa r : 7) 
hT lb, 2.; FLhSH 
ss Kau to roturn to fnanu." 

2155 IF INKFYg=CHRs 13 THEN GO T 
G 2155 



INPUT 
HT 13 
INPUT 
PT 14 
PRINT 


1 .: ‘=Pra 


IF INKFY$ = = 


THEN GO TO 215 


IN 


IN 


BEEP =1 
GO TO 2£ 

PEN 

GO bUb L L S 

PRINT hT 3,5.; INUEP5E 1; 
CLaar Ona Oharactar'' 

FOP Z=1 TO 15; PRINT PT : 
.3;z;TPB 7;Pi(zj;TPB 20;qi(z:i 
EXT Z 

Hbio iNhUT ''uhoosa charactar 
LaMar; IF PlaMar>15 OP PlaMar 
THEN GO TO 2540 
2550 GO SUB Cis 

2550 PRINT PT 3,5.; INUEP5E 1.; 

K bT^ulaar una Charactar’' 

4b/0 hhiNT Hi b,b.;”Hra you sura 
you uant this’YPT 7,3.;”daLatad-^( 
M /n) ” 

2530 LET Zi=INKEYs; IF INKEY 
THEN GO TO 2530 

2590 IF z$=”y” OP Z$=“Y” THEN BE 
GO Tu 2540 

Z±=”n" UH Zs=”N” THbN 
GO TO 22 
TO 2530 
qi (P Laya r j 
Pi (P Laya r) 
r $ (p L a y a r ) 
c $ (p Laya r) 
si(P Laua r) 
z=l TO 7 
a (p Laya r 


EP =1=5: 
2500 IF 
EP =1=5; 
2510 
2520 
2525 
2530 
2535 
2540 
2545 
2550 
2555 
2550 
4bbb 
2570 
2530 


BE 


Z ) =0 


Ia r = ^ ) =0 


uu 
LET 
LET 
LET 
LET 
LET 
FOP 
LET 
NEXT 

FOP Z=1 TO 
Lb I h (P L a Ma f 
NEXT Z 

PRINT PT 9,3.; 
“ipLayar.;” Cleared 
\i\ memo r^ ban Ks = ” 

2590 GO TO 50 
3000 PEN 
3010 GO BUB CIS 
3020 PRINT BRIGHT 1 
P5E 1.; INK 3.; ”0 Laa r 
r s 

3030 PRINT BRIGHT 1 
H 1: INK 2; PPPEP 5.;” 

PT 7=3 

INUEP5E l:”ypPNING 
E 0 ; TPB 23 ; ” PT 3,3.; ” 


uha ra c ta r No = 

; PT 10 = 3 ; ” r r 0 


:,5.: INUE 
characta 


hT 5 


FLP5 


PT 


PPED PLL 
POTEPS PPE LOST 
OOMPLETELY = 

1=3;TPB 23;” ” 

3040 INPUT "Entai 
Laar zi; IF zi=”CLEPP’ 
CLaar” THEN GO TO 3050 
3050 GO TO 22 


; INUEP5 
” ONCE OLE 
9.3;” OHPP 
; PT 10,3.;” 
” ; PT 1 


”OLEPP”” 
OP 


3050 

3070 

3030 

3090 

3100 

3110 

3120 

3130 

3140 

3150 

3150 

3170 


r=l TO 15 


i 






Continued from page 


3130 

3190 


4 b.; 

: L a a r a d 


PT 


NEXT r 

PRINT PT 5,3.; TPB 
PLL charactars 
3 = 3;” fron me\i\or^ . 

; PT 9=3;TPB 23;” ”;PT 

3; ” ”;PT 11=3;TPB 23; ’ 

PRINT PT 13,2.; FLPSH 
aM to raturn to nanu . ” : 

S=”” THEN GO TO 3200 
BEEP .1:5; GO TO 22 
PEN 

GO SUB C LS 

PRINT PT_3,7.; INUEP5E 
”5HUbinq uharactars” 

PRINT PT 5=3;”This uiLi sav 
PT 5,3 ;”p rog ran an 
7,3.; “charactars an 
S,3;”taKa approx. 


:a antira” 

.L tha”;PT 
: u I L L ” .; PT 
, n 13 sacs.” 

j SPUE "Charactar” LINE 1 
5 PRINT PT 13,5.; FLPSH 1.; 
uan t to UarirM?” 

5 LET Zi=INKEY$ 

=”Y” THEN BEEP 
= 3; ; UEPIFY ” 
irifiad O.Ks 
5 IF Z5=”” THEN 
5 BEEP .1,5; GO 

i2__^ _ 

5 F^OP X=2 TO 19 
5 PRINT PT X,2; BRIGHT l.;TPB 


GO TO 35 
SUB 9050 



IF Zs=”M” OP 
1.5; PRINT PT 
PRINT PT 13=3 


0 NEXT X 
0 RETU RN 

8 REM !=£aBl=*i 
1 BRIGHT 8 

5 RRINT RT 8,8: "x; V x x; S; V x 

Y/YY////Y ^ ^ ^ ^ ■ 


9050 

9055 

X 

9070 

9075 

9030 

\ X 

9035 

9090 


3 STEP 
0;_”x 


FOP X =2 TO 
PRINT PT X 

Y PT X4l=30 
NEXT X 

FOP X=10 TO IS 
PRINT PT X =0.; ” 

Y PT Xi-1 =30; ” H” 
NEXT X 

PRINT PT 20.0;” 




30.; 


STEP 2 
/”.;PT > 


30: 


//\\\\\\\\ 


////// 


:;;Y; 


BRIGHT 
PEN 


RETURN 


9390 ; 
NEXT 


FOP 


:1 TO 


9095 
9350 

9355 RESTORE 
PEPD 0 ^ (X) : 

9350 RETURN 

9390 DPTP ”1 List Charactar shaa 
t.”=”2 Pdjust charactar shaat_^”, 
”3 Copy charactar shaat.”=”4 bnt 
ar nau charactar.”,”b uLaar ona 
charactar.”= ”5 OLaar all charact 
ars.”=”7 bava charactar shaats.” 
9900 RESTORE 9930 
9905 FOR q=144 TO 155 
9910 FOR X=0 TO 7; PEPD 

NEXT X 


POKE 


USR OHR* q^X,i 
9915 NEXT q 
RETURN 
DPTP 0=0 
DPTP 123 
DPTP 33 = ; 


9920 

9930 

9931 

9932 
0 

9933 

9934 
. 132 

9935 
9935 
9937 
9933 
.0 

9939 

9990 

9991 


3 = 15= 43 
; 0.0 = 0 = 0 
=14.12 


23 


9b = 144 
0 = 0 
114 


S3 . 


DPTP 

DPTP 


0 = 0.0 

73=55. 


0 . 1 

43,112. 


400 


DPTP 

DPTP 

DPTP 

DPTP 


3=5=12.3,15=32.0=0 
0=0.32.15.12,5.3,1 
0.0=0=0.0.0.0.123 
194 = 100.55.55=75 = 134. 


DPTP 

DPTP 

DPTP 


32 = 97 
0 = 0=0 
>3 = 192 


50.23 
0 = 0.0 
95.43 


>b , w = 


0 = 0 







































KALAH 

One of the oldest games in the world! Originally played by 
Bedouins using pebbles and holes scooped in the desert 
sand, this strategy game has absorbed the mind of man for 
thousands of years. Superb graphics and music, with a 
choice of levels and depth of search. Easy to learn, 
fiendishly difficult to beat! 

CommodoreM Cassette f 7.95 Disk f 9.95 


A compulsive adventure game set in a ghost town in the 
Wild West. Your task - to flush out a gang of bank robbers 
and retrieve their loot - with only your trusty steed and your 
six-shooter to aid you! 

Test the speed of yoUr draw, your skill at cards, your powers 
of survival! 

The first of a stunning series of adventure games from Allan 
Black, played in real-time. 

Commodors C4 Cassatt* f 9.95 Disk i12.95 

BBC Model *■' (text only)Cass*tt* 17.95 
BI*ctro« (text only) Cassette 17.95 


Dare you venture into the ancient undersea labyrinths 
which link the islands of the Archipelago? Fabulous jewels 
await you there - but the guardians of the treasure mark 
your every move, waiting to deal a swift and terrible 
vengeance. How long can you survive? 

A fast-moving, action-packed game with brilliant graphics, 
animation and music. 

Commodore 64 C»sette£7.95 Disk f 9.95 
(joystick needed) 


A new angle in alien zapping! Against a brilliant backdrop 
of stars, you must defend your asteroid base from wave 
after wave of swooping mutating starships. Ybur defence - 
a powerful laser deflected against a giant mirror. How long 
can you hold out before your defences crumble? 
BBCModelB Cassette <7.95 

■lectron Cassette 17.95 


An outstanding graphics package for the Commodore 64. 
Features include; free-hand sketches, circles, ellipses, block 
move, copy and reverse, magnification choice of cursor, 
joystick or key control. PLUS texture definition and texture 
and colour fill. PANORAMA (H) uses the full colour facilities 
of the Commdore 64. 

Commodore 64 Cassette <17.95 Disk <19.95 

TtM programme is menv-driven and comes wMi a 
comprehensive iNustrated in s tmeWon booklet. 


Cassette 

Cassette 


(£1795) D 
(£19.95) O 
(£ 7.95) O 
(£ 9,95) □ 
(£ 7.95) O 
(£ 9.95) O 
(£ 9 95) O 
(£12.95) O 


LASER REFLEX 
WEST (text only) 


Cassette 

Disk 

Cassette 

Disk 

Cassette 

Disk 

Cassette 

Disk 


PANORAMA (H) 

PANORAMA (H) 

ARCHIPELAGO 

ARCHIPELAGO 

KALAH 

KALAH 

WEST 

WEST 


Cassette 

Cassette 


LASER REFLEX •— 

WEST (text only) —- 

Total (includes postage and packing) 


Please debit my ACCESS/BARCLAY/TRUSTCARD 


SOFTWARE FROM SCOTLAND Curran Building, 101 St James Road 

Glasgow G4 ONS Tel 041 552 2128 

INSTANT CREDITCARD 24 HOUR ORDERING SERVICE TEL 041 552 2128 


I enclose a PO/Chet,ue to the value of £ 


Name (block capitals) 


, Post Code 


Signature ...... . . . ... . ™ . 

Please allow up to 28 days tot delivery. We shall not bank your remittance until your order has been despatched. 


Dealer enouines welcome. Contact Veronica Colin 


and our games prove if 


Amazing grapliicsr fast and furious action, cliallenging 
strategy, compelling adventure - this first wave of 
games from TALENT has got the lot! 

Written hy professional computer scientists using 
powerful new programming techniques (which leave 
machine code standing), these games have pushed home 
micros to the very limit. 












































WRITTEN YOUR MASTERPIECE YET? 


'COS IF YOU HAVE, WE'D LIKE TO SEE IT. 

*BIG K is interested in BASIC computer 
programs for any of the top-selling micros. 

*We're also interested in programs and 
routines written in other languages (e.g. 
Assembler). 

*We don't insist that they're games — 
friendly utilities are more than welcome. 

*We pay top dollar for anything we pub¬ 
lish. 

*We like it fully debugged, on cassette, 
disc or microdrive, and as thoroughly 
documented as possible. 

*A listing helps, especially if it's no more 
than 40 columns wide. 

*Sendyour stuff to: 


SENT IT IN 
ALREADY? 

Don't despair if you haven't heard from us 
yet—you will! You will! It'sjust 
that. . . well, we sort of got overwhelmed 
by the never-ending stream of delivery 
porters toiling upthe 20 flights of stairsto 


Ml 





BIG K (PROGS) 

IPC Magazines Ltd. 
Kings Reach Tower (2035) 
Stamford Street 
LONDON SE1 9LS 


our electronic eyrie high inthe cloud- 
wreathed fastness of the Tower of Power, 
each of whom bears on his head a rattan 
basket containing readers' progs. 
Evaluating this material takes time, and 
time is one thing we never seem to have 
enough of. .. 

So if you're getting edgy—relax. Don't do 
it. Somehow we'll getthrough it. Then your 
turn will come. 



NEXT MONTH IN BIG K... 


THE INS AND OUTS OF 
STRONTIUM DOG 


Bringing any established comic character to compute¬ 
rised life is no mean undertaking. Bringing 2000 AD's 
futuristic sinister bounty hunter STRONTIUM DOG to 
life is perilous indeed. We chart the anatomy of a new 
biggie . . . 

A CHIP CALLED SID ... 

is the powerhouse behind the Commodore 64's state- 
of-the-art sound facilities. KIM ALOIS takes up the 
baton. 

GREAT VIDEO DISEASES 
OF OUR TIME 


Incorporating CollapseWare — an entirely new con¬ 
cept. JOHN CONQUEST lists those parts of his body 
which have gone wrong since he took up this vibrant 
new hobby, and (entirely in passing) savages one or 
two widgets that are even sicker than he is . . . 



'em- 





lllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINIIMIIIIIII 






















1 


WIT 








rjVCT4l 


I liirilJlII SffftT^ I SflK^liZilsfail zh tfl 

ittBNIiiiilABiBifiMIBfiAi^ 


Kmmmmmmmmmmfmwmmm 


OTHER MR. MICRO TITLES 
AVAILABLE MOW:— 

GOLD RUSH (VIC 20) . £6.90 

iriVlhCIBLE(VIC20) . £6.90 

hUhPMREY (VIC +16K) . £6.90 

MY5TERI0U5 ISLAND 

(VIC +16K) . £9.90 


DICC3ER(VIC + 16K) . £6.90 

BENCO (VIC 20) . £6.90 

AMICO (VIC +16K) . £6.90 

hUnPMREY(BBC B).:Lb.90 

PUNCHY (SPECTRUn 48). . £6.90 

CRAZY COLE 

(SPECTRUPl 48). £6.90 

DRACULA (ORIC). £6.90 

RAM DAM (VIC). .. £13.90 


SPECIAL TRADE PACKAC3E AVAILABLE 


SCORE STORE (ALL). , 
HARLEQUIN 
(UPECfRUM 4Hj. 
LICjHTNINCASSEMB/DIS. 
(ORIC). 


£1.95 


£6.90 


£13.90 


































































































CTP 









immmjmms 

Mm! 


The Cheetah Remote Action Transmitter is the most 
sophisticated computer controller available. 


It has these features: 


M Infra Red transmission - so there are no leads trailing 
across the living room. Just sit back in your chair up to 
30 feet from your machine. 

M Touch control-no moving parts, extremely fast, long life. 
M No extra software required. 

U Can be used with all Cheetah RAT/Kempston compatible 
software. 

U Fits comfortably in your hand for long play periods, 
tt Comes complete with receiver/interface unit which simply 
plugs into the rear of your Spectrum. 

U Compatible with all Sinclair/Cheetah peripherals via the 
rear edge connector. 

Simply incredible at £29.95 including VAT and p&p. 

Dealer enquiries welcome. Export orders at no extra cost. 


1 


Send cheque/p.0 now to: 

Cheetah Marketing Ltd. (Dept. BK), 24 Ray Street, London EC1R 3DJ. phone 01-833 4909 


Cheetah products are also available from branches 
^ WHSMITH Rumbelows 

and all good computer shops. 


■ 

















































































































TODDLER TUTOR 

©COMM'DATA COMPUTER Hou: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 

I maths TUTOR 


FromCHflnnfti 


©COMM'DATA COMPUTER HOUSE. INC. 


From am®, 


OCOiMfOATA COMPUTER HOUSE. INC. U.S>. 


From the top of the American 
Educational Charts, Channel 8 
Software bring you the top 4. 

Comm.* Data Educational 
Programs. 

*They make sums simple. 

*Easy learning Graphically. 

*Your children will enjoy 
learning with them. 

*Give your children a better 
start in life. 

Each educational series tape contains 
4 related programs aimed at specific 
age groups and are ideal for home or 
schools. 

Toddler Tutor age group 3-6 
Primary Maths age group 5-7 
Gottcha Maths age group 8-adult 
Maths Tutor age group 8-11 

Programs for Commodore 64, 

CGL/Sord M5 

I Spy is available for 16K Atari including 
XL and BBC A or B 

OTHER PROGRAMS INCLUDE 

Borzak, Shear Panic, Tinie Zone, 

The Famo^us My]$tariou|^ vMventM v: 


Looking and 
Learning "" 





































Jet Set Willy — The Last Poke 


If you want to get sucked up 
a wall, stand beneath it and 
press the jump key. This takes 
some getting used to, and is 
not possible on all walls. 

In the nightmare room, 
quickly press jump and for¬ 
ward keys as soon as you en¬ 
ter. This will allow you to col¬ 
lect the single, high-up object 
in the room. Then leave. 
There's nothing else. Remem¬ 
ber you'll be invisible in this 
room, but don't worry, you 
can't get killed. 

MARK CHARLTON, 

Ashford. 


THE FOLLOWING Jet Set Willy 
loader will eliminate all mov¬ 
ing objects, allows you to jump 
from room to room, lets you 
fall from any height, clears the 
attic bug and will suck you up 
walls as if in a lift. And, of 
course, gives you infinite lives. 

10 CLEAR 32767 : LOAD "" 
CODE 

20 FOR A=43780 TO 45823 
:POKE A,0: NEXT A 
30 FOR A=46080 TO 49151 
:POKE A,0: NEXT A 
40 POKE 36477,1 


50 RANDOMIZE USR 33792 

To jump from room to room, 
go down the first landing, to 
the room with the long flight of 
stairs and a flashing cross. 
Move to the bottom of the 
stairs and input WRITETYPER. 
Then press key 9 and you 
should jump to the off-licence. 
You should now be able to 
jump freely from room to 
room. Make sure you go in the 
right position — or you'll dis¬ 
cover the consequences! 


Ybs, you too can join 

the formidable team of 
literati assembled on 
this here double-page 

spread and end up 
richer by FIVE WHOLE 

POUNDS! (If we publish 

your letter, that is.) 
Bus your 
Suss to... 

1 Letterbase, 

BigK 

Room 2038 

IPC Magazines Ltd 
Kings Reach Tower 

Stamford Street 


London SE19LS 


Kong? Every session of Parlia¬ 
ment is a game of Dungeons 
and Dragons, after all. (We 
won't mention Manic Miner). 
CAMERON BLACK, 

Glasgow. 


Fair Play 


loaded. The result was a prog¬ 
ram jumble of confused char¬ 
acters and keywords. How can 
I translate these codes? 
N.WHILLANS, 

N. Ireland. 


Five's the 
limit? 

I TOTALLY agree with Paul 
Bellamy's views (BIG K 5). 
All software is vastly over¬ 
priced. Why shouldn't we 
make copies at £5 a throw? 
NICHOLAS WATKINS, 
Wolverhampton 


IN REPLY to Paul Bellamy, 
we think that major soft¬ 
ware breakthroughs like 
The Hobbit' or 'Lords of 
Midnight' deserve their 
high prices because of de¬ 
velopment costs. However, 
it's at the £6-7 mark that 
people get 'ripped off, for 
games that are just tired 
variations on familiar 
themes. 

We've got six adventure 
games retailing at £1.95. 
Sure — we want to make 
money, but we don't want a 
cynical public and a market 
that boils down to fierce 
piracy protection, minimal 
content, and resentful pun¬ 
ters. 

M. K. WHITE, 

8th Day Software, 

Wirral. 


• Sounds like you ran into a 
bit of BASICODE, of which the 
sole official transmitter is the 
BBC. The Beeb will supply you 
with an interpreter. Alterna¬ 
tively, you might have been 
tuning in to some sinister 
hacker of the airways passing 
on pirated pulses to a fellow 
plunderer. In which case, don't 
tell the Beeb. 


Kwest For 
Kong 

IN RESPONSE to Analechi 
Nivadi's quest for the best 
Commodore Kong — there's 
only one good Kong game for 
the Commodore. That's Ani- 
rog's. 

ANDY CLARKE, 

Warwickshire. 

King of the 
Kongs 

THE ALL-TIME great Kong 
game is the arcade Donkey 
Kong, by Nintendo. 

NICK BARFOOT, 

Colehill, Dorset. 


Piracy 

Schmiracy 


Bright—But 
Not Sharp! 


IF "COMPUTER software 
is, in the main rubbish", 
why does pirate Paul Bel¬ 
lamy lower himself to copy 
it? Why publish the views 
of someone breaking laws 
like a common shoplifter? I 
see enough piracy in 
school. 

CHRIS HALL, 

Belfast. 

• We publish Paul's views 
for the same reason we 
publish your views — the 
day we stop publishing 
views, we're dead. 


I'VE only one thing to say ab¬ 
out Mr. Bright, MP, who's 
trying to include our games in 
the Video Recordings Bill — 
he's stupid! 

KIERAN NUTBROWN, 
Huddersfield. 


Anagram 


Ethereal 


Hack Attack 


HOW COULD you do this to 
me? My name is not 
Analechi Nivadi — it is 
Anaelechi Nnadi. 

A. NNADI, 

London. 


WHILST playing my short 
wave radio, I came across a 
series of high pitched noises. I 
recorded them and played 
them into the old CBM 64 — 
and was amazed when they 


I THINK the Bright Bill stinks. 
However, it could lead to a 
new breed of political games. 
How about Revenge of the 
Mutant Tories, or Kinnock 

























• Improve your handwrit¬ 
ing, Annaline Leech. 

Big Kool 

ALL NEW magazines pack 
their first issues with the 
best stuff, and then get 
really average. Big K, 
however, has stayed hila¬ 
rious, and manages to pack 
in its point too. Your views 
are the same as mine, and I 
agree with all your Classic 
Games choices. 

M. J. DAVIES, 

Dyfed, Wales. 

# We agree with your Clas¬ 
sic Mags choice, too. 

Talk to 
Me! 

IS THERE an interface avail¬ 
able to connect a CBM 64 to a 
Spectrum? We both write 
programs and it would save us 
a lot of time in translation. 

C. BRIDGER&T. FLYNN, 
Merseyside. 

# Sorry, C. and T., but when 
have you ever heard of two 
rivals talking to each other? 

First 

Edition 

DO YOU think that the first 
issue of BIG K could be worth 
some money? If so, how 
much? 

NG WAI TONG, 

Kuala Lumpur, 

Malaysia. 

• YOU START the bidding, Ng 
old china, and we'll tell you if 
you're in with a chance. 


^ I • Qt the third number in the DRAW 

/ QKltlQ OtlQpC statement, you can change the 

size and shape of the object. 

I DISCOVERED the following disable the BREAK key 

useful tricks whilst ex- during a BASIC program, type 

perimenting with my 48K pQKE 23659,0. But note that 

Spectrum: program won't stop to give 

1. Type PLOT 128,88:DRAW reports (errors etc). 

30,30.4E4 — a rotating shape ELTIN LUNNY, 
appears on screen. By altering Dublin. 

Another Kim Bites The Dust 

I'M SURPRISED to find that Kim Aldis couldn't manage 
Jet Power Pack (BBC). It's easy. I haven't quite finished, 
but I've got to the fourth garage. 

SARA HIRST, 

Leeds. 

• Kim has this co-ordination problem, you see .. 


Shut-Out 
At Atari 


HERE ARE some tips for 
owners who want to protect 
their progs. 

1. To disable the BREAK 
key, include the following afi 
every graphics comman 
POKE 16,64:POKE 53774,64 

2. You can't disable 
Atari's SYSTEM RESET, 
POKE 580,1 will reset the 
start flag, thereby clearing any 
programs in RAM whenever 
the key is pressed. 

3. For a 'run only' program 
add the following line to th 
end of your programs: 327 
POKE(PEEK (138) + 256* 
(139)-H2),0:SAVE"C:":NEW 

4. For disc drivers, su 
tute the SAVE "D:FILE 
": NEW Then type GOTO 32767 
in the immediate mode and 
the program will be saved In a 
protected form. When loadin 
use the command RUN"C:" 
RUN"D:FILENAME". The 
ram will then save and ru 
self. Pressing BREAK or I 
ing In any other way will 
in a lock up. Be careful — thi 
method of prog protection 
won't even let you get a li 
afterwards! 

M. RAHMAN, 

London. 


Amstrad: Great Green, Costly Colour 


AMSTRAD have made a mistake 
— the inclusion of the monitor in 
the price. If you buy the cheaper, 
green-screen model (£229) you 
lose one of the machine's best 
features. To getyour colour back 
you must purchase a £30 
modulator/power supply, and 
use your TV. So now you've got 
a redundant monitor. 


Of course you could go for the 
colour model right from the 
start. But then £329 is above the 
average micro budget. 

It would be better to hold the 
monitor, bung in a pair of joys¬ 
ticks and some software and run 
the thing off a TV. Surely most 
people have one of those? 
NEILOLNER, Doncaster. 


ti 


• Good point, Neil — except 
that, as you say yourself, most 
people only have ONE TV. So 
when Dynasty's on, who gets 
the use of the Family VDU? Les 
Parents, every time. Also: TVs 
won't support 80-column dis¬ 
play, and we think that Amstrad 
fancy their 'puter's chances as a 
small business micro (eventual- 

Iv). 































































































lencloseacheque/P.O.for: 

W Name. 

Address. 


CBM 64 


DRAGON 


Quest For the Garden 
of Eden. 

Travel back through 
time to stop Adam 
eating that apple! 

By Biandon fames 


At £9*99our games were a bargain... 

At £6-99 they’re a STEAL!! 


COMPLETE THE ARCADE GAME 


nlPtW CASSE't'*^ SOL VE THE APVEN TDRE 


The Emperor Must Die. 
The corrupt Emperor 
must be eliminated and 
you have been chosen! 
By Tyrone Howe 


CBM 64 

The Sorcerer's 
Apprentice. 

Find the right spell to 
halt the mischievous 
brooms! 

By Stuart Barnes 


PROGRAMMERS! Have 
you written any good 
software! Send it to us 
for assessment and 
details of our super 
royalty scheme. 


"An absolute gem!" Software Today. 

What will the critics say now? 

Allat£6-99 

Available from Boots and all good Computer Stores 

Four Gates. 

Rescue the humans 

liPHftl catacombs of 

it h ..Now there isn’t a CHOICE By Simon Wickes 


Phoenix Software Ltd. 
Spangles House, 

116 Marsh Road, 
Pinner, Middx. . 
01-868 3353 


SPECTRUM 16/48 

Jokers Wild. 

Enemy aliens are 
capturing our souls with 
hypnotic cards. Stop 
them and save the 
human race! 

By Nic Ford 


At £9.99 the critics were unanimous in their 
applause for our concept of arcade and adventure. 
"A splendid idea..'! HomeComputesigWeekly. 


Superb..'! Popular Computing Weekly. 


"Great!" Computers Video Games. 


"Engrossing..'! Computer Choice. 





















AS SEEN 
ON 


\BEAU-JOLL^ 


INVADERS 


^ COSMIC CRUISER # B.C. BILL ^ PEDRO 
OZZOOM ■0! ZIP ZAP ALCHEMIST 


<► ARCADIA ^ AH DIDDUMS ^ MOLAR MAUL <► JUMPING JACK 


WACKY WAITERS ^ARCADIA CATCHA SNATCHA 
<► BEWITCHED ^3D JUMPIN JACK INVADERS 


Great Games in 4 Different Packs from 







































WITH YOU 


MAY WICO BB 


W hen you’re up against all the evil in the universe, you 
need the finest joystick. Weak, sticky slow controls 
can only lead you to your doom. 

You need a Wico.® The controls in more than 500 
modem arcade games are actually made by Wico.® They set the 
industry standard for durability and performance. And t^sa me 
arcade quality goes into the Wico® you take home. 

Wico® joysticks work directly with the 
Commodore 64,™ Vic 20,™ all Atari® Home 
Computers and Atari® Video Games. 

Add an interface, and you can connect into 
a Sinclair Spectrum or Apple 11* and lie.® If you 
have a new MSX computer there’s the just 
released MSX Grip Handle for you. 

What do you get? A man-sized handle 
on a virtually unbreakable shaft. Tough, 
ultra-sensitive Wico® switchgear. A heavy¬ 
weight base. A year’s guarantee. And more she^ 


CGL HOUSE, GOLDINGS HILL, LOUGHTON, ESSEX IGIO 2RR. 01-508 5600. LOOK FOl 


dodging, chasing and blasting power than ever before. 

The Wico® range includes the famous Red Ball,^"straight 
out of the arcades. The Three Way Deluxe with interchangeable 
handles. The light but rugged Boss. And check out the state-of- 
the-art Trackball: many owners use it for serious programming, 
_where it gives them effortless cursor control. 

Ask your dealer to let you handle a Wico.® Quality 
(you’ll find) costs money 

But if you want to have less trouble fighting your 
controls, and more power for fighting the 
I forces of darkness . . . only Wico® is worthy 
of your hand. 



THE FINEST HAND CONTROLS 
IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE 


ICO NAME IN ALL GOOD SHOPS AND CATALOGUES. 
















^RDM 


WRITTEN BY iEE (VALEN/IIMO) BRAINE 
PRODUCED BY RICHARD PAUL JONES. 


ABLE FOR THfe 


FAST LOADING 


NOW WITH 


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CASSETTE £8 
DISK £9.95 


Danger 
Rangermust 
collect ten keys 
from the Chamber of 
I ^P~Tasha, whilst warding off 
1 the Floating Urns, Radio- 

E active Bats and Roving 
m w Eyes. Then he must face 
W f the Acid Chamber to collect 
” ' all the Treasure Chests, 

avoiding not only the drops 
of acid, but shooting the 
four demons which guard 
the chamber. Five levels of 
, Play. Sound Effects. High 

Speed arcade action game. Full 
colour graphics. Machine Language. 


COMMODO 
DRAGON 32 



Dealers Contact 

MICRODEAL DISTRIBUTlOh 
0726-3456 
or WEBSTERS SOFTWARE 
0483 62222 


Mail Order Sales from 
Microdeal Mail Order 41 Tmro Rd, 
St. Austell Cornwall PL25 5JE 


Credit Card Sales 
Phone 0726 3456 


Selected Microdeal Titles available from computer dealers nationwide or from larger branches of 













failable for 

E64 ATARI 16K 
TANDY COLOUR 




avoiding not only the drops 
of acid, but shooting the 
four demons which guard 
the chamber. Five levels of 


Danger 


Ranger must 


collect ten keys 


from the Chamber of 


"PaSha, whilst warding off 


the Floating Urns, Radio 
active Bats and Roving 


Eyes. Then he must face 
the Acid Chamber to collect 


all the Treasure Chests 


'JTE£8 

9.95 


Play. Sound Effects. High 
Speed arcade action game. Full 
colour graphics. Machine Language. 


i 

h 



Dealers Contact 

MICRODEAL DISTRIBUTION 
0726-3456 
or WEBSTERS SOFTWARE 
0483 62222 


able from computer dealers nationwide or from larger branches of 




WINAWKO 
CimROLUR!
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